Best Options Trading Platforms

If you’re into investing, you might know about options trading. Options are a financial tool. They let you buy or sell things like stocks at a certain price by a specific date. But options trading is more complicated than just buying stocks. So, people who do it need to pick the best platform carefully. The global market for online trading platforms was worth $9.50 billion in 2022. It’s expected to grow to $14.04 billion by 2031. In this guide, we’ll provide an overview of our top picks for the best options trading platforms, highlighting their features and pros and cons.

5 Best Options Trading Platforms of 2024

1. Tastytrade 

We picked tastytrade as the best options broker because it offers low prices for trading options, great technology for analyzing and trading options, helpful educational content focused on options, and excellent customer support. They charge $0 for stock trades, $1 to open options trades (with a cap at $10 per leg), and $0 to close.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Low costs, especially for those who trade a lot	Fee structure is better suited for active traders
Easy-to-use trading platform	Limited variety of products
Strong research and analytical tools	Platform has a learning curve
Useful educational content	No interest earned on cash balances

2. Robinhood

Robinhood is another top choice for options trading. It charges $0 per contract fees, has a user-friendly interface, and offers valuable information on options trading. You can access all features through the app.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
No minimum account requirement	Doesn’t support mutual funds or individual bonds
Easy-to-use interface	Customer support is limited
Allows cryptocurrency trading
Offers IRA with 1% match
Provides high interest rates on uninvested cash

3. Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers offers competitive prices for options trading, charging $.65 per contract with no base fee, and discounts for larger trades. The minimum commission for options trades is $1 per order. There are no annual, account, transfer, or closing fees. The platform offers a wide range of investment options including stocks, options, ETFs, precious metals, forex, warrants, and futures. 

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Wide investment selection	Requires a high minimum balance to earn interest on uninvested cash.
Strong research tools
Over 19,000 mutual funds with no transaction fees
High-quality order execution
24/7 Support

4. Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab doesn’t charge fees for each options trade, but it does charge $0.65 for each contract. Overall, Schwab has some of the lowest account fees. There are no yearly fees or fees for not using your account, and it costs $25 to transfer assets out of the account, but only $15 if done online. Charles Schwab offers a wide range of tradable assets like mutual funds, ETFs, index funds, bonds, options, and futures, but it doesn’t provide forex trading. 

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
4 trading platforms with no minimums or fees	Low interest rate for cash that’s not invested
Good mobile app
Extensive research tools
Large selection of funds
Commission-free trades for stocks, options, and ETFs
24/7 Customer Support

5. E*TRADE

E*TRADE is best for active trading. You don’t have to pay a commission for options trades, but there’s a fee of $0.65 per contract, which drops to $0.50 per contract if you make at least 30 stock, ETF, or options trades each quarter.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Fantastic mobile apps for investors and traders	Low interest rates on cash you haven’t invested
Lots of educational content	You can’t trade fractional shares unless you’re using robo-investing
High-quality research tools	No access to international exchanges
Strong portfolio analysis features	Can’t trade cryptocurrencies directly

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s important for investors to choose the right options trading platform. From our point of view, tastytrade stands out as the best options trading platform because it offers friendly fees, a strong trading platform, technology, and helpful education and research.

However, other platforms like Interactive Brokers and E*TRADE also offers good options. E*TRADE Mobile is good for casual traders, while Interactive Brokers is best for advanced traders. Schwab is great for beginners with its educational resources and paper trading feature. So, if you carefully consider these factors, you’ll definitely excel in options trading without any interruptions.

FAQs

What are the pros and cons of trading options?

Pros: Potential for high profits with limited losses.

Cons: Options can expire worthless if the stock doesn’t move enough.

What is options trading overview?

Options are contracts giving the right to buy or sell assets at a set price for a specific time.

What are features and options?

Futures and options (F&O) are derivative contracts where parties agree to buy or sell assets at an agreed price on a fixed date.

Also read:

• How to Open a Forex Trading Account?
• How to Score a 5% Discount on Funding Pips?
• How to Recover Your Funds If You’ve Been Scammed by a Forex Broker?