OWNx vs BullionVault (2026): Which Allocated Platform?

BullionVault is the cheaper way to hold gold, and OWNx is the better home for US retirement money. Both are allocated-metals platforms rather than coin dealers, so in either case you own bullion by weight and pay a professional to vault it. The split is about cost and account type. BullionVault charges 0.12% a year to store gold and runs a global marketplace of professional vaults. OWNx charges 0.6% a year, or 0.5% inside its IRA, and is built around a US self-directed precious-metals IRA that BullionVault does not offer. On our rubric BullionVault comes out ahead, and the reason is mostly storage cost. If you are funding a US retirement account, that cost advantage does not reach you, and OWNx is the platform that does.

How they differ

OWNx is a US platform. You open an account online, buy gold, silver, or platinum by weight at or near spot, and the metal sits allocated in your name at an IDS depository in Delaware or Texas, insured through Lloyd’s of London. Its defining feature is a real US self-directed IRA at a flat $249 a year plus 0.5% storage, with no account minimum.

BullionVault is a UK-based, global marketplace. You trade on an order board against other users, and the bullion you buy is already sitting in a professional vault in London, Zurich, New York, Toronto, or Singapore, run by Loomis, Malca-Amit, or Brink’s. Ownership is outright, held under a bailment rather than through a trust. There is no US retirement account.

Dimension	OWNx	BullionVault
Gold storage cost	0.6%/yr standard, 0.5%/yr in IRA	0.12%/yr, $4/month minimum
Minimums	$0 account; $25 recurring buy	No account minimum; $4/month gold custody floor
IRA availability	US self-directed precious-metals IRA, $249/yr flat plus 0.5% storage	None; no US retirement account
Ownership model	Allocated, fractional ownership of large bars, registered in your name	Allocated, outright ownership of bars (bailment, no trust)
Audit / transparency	Published fees; allocated at IDS depositories; Lloyd’s insured	Public daily audit of vault bar lists and client holdings; published insurance evidence
Product range	Gold, silver, platinum; no coins	Gold, silver, platinum, palladium; bars only, no coins
Regulation basis	US-based operator inside the US consumer-protection framework	English property law plus LBMA standards; not FCA-regulated
Delivery	Available; cost varies by item	Available but expensive

Two cells deserve a note. BullionVault’s 0.12% gold storage carries a $4 monthly minimum, so at very small balances the floor, not the percentage, sets the cost. And on delivery, both platforms let you take metal out, but it is costly on either: OWNx charges vary by item, while BullionVault’s physical withdrawal fees run from 1% up to 7.5% for gold and 10% for silver, platinum, or palladium, plus tax, transport, and insurance. Neither is a cheap way to end up with coins in a drawer.

Where BullionVault wins

Cost, transparency, and the ownership structure. Gold storage is 0.12% a year against OWNx’s 0.6%, a five-fold difference that compounds every year you hold. Dealing commission runs from 0.5% down to 0.05% by yearly volume, where an OWNx standard account pays a 1.99% to 5.99% buy premium unless it carries the paid EDGE membership. BullionVault publishes a daily audit: every business day it posts vault bar lists and client holdings that anyone can cross-check, a stronger transparency claim than OWNx makes. And your bullion is your outright property under a bailment, not a beneficial interest in a trust.

Where OWNx wins

The US retirement account, the flat IRA fee, and the US footprint. OWNx runs a genuine self-directed precious-metals IRA at $249 a year flat plus 0.5% storage, and BullionVault has no equivalent. That flat fee does not scale with your balance, so a large IRA stays cheap to administer. OWNx is US-based, custodies at COMEX-approved US depositories, and sits inside a US consumer-protection framework that some buyers will weigh over an offshore vault under a foreign legal regime. Its EDGE membership also removes the buy premium entirely, which narrows the dealing-cost gap for active buyers who pay for it.

One point needs stating plainly rather than as a mark against BullionVault. It is not FCA-regulated, but that is structural: physical bullion trading in the London market sits outside the FCA’s remit and is governed by English property law and LBMA standards, not by financial-services rules. It is not a sign of wrongdoing. OWNx, as a US operator, answers to a different and more familiar set of US rules. Buyers are choosing between two regulatory bases, not between regulated and unregulated.

Who should pick which

Pick BullionVault if your priority is the lowest running cost to hold gold, if you want a public daily audit and multi-jurisdiction vaulting, or if you value outright ownership and do not need a US tax wrapper. Pick OWNx if you are moving a 401(k) or IRA into metal, want a flat and predictable IRA fee, prefer US-based custody, or want the buy premium eliminated through EDGE. A US buyer who wants both the cheapest storage and a retirement account cannot get both here, because only OWNx offers the account and only BullionVault offers the lower cost.

Bottom line

For holding allocated gold at the lowest cost, with a daily public audit and outright ownership, BullionVault is the stronger platform, and that is why it comes out ahead on our scoring. For holding metal inside a US retirement account at a flat, transparent fee, OWNx does something BullionVault does not do at all. Neither is a coin dealer, and neither is trying to be. The right choice is the one that matches whether you are optimizing for cost or for a US tax-advantaged account.