tastyworks vs E*Trade are two online brokers with very different clientele and very different pricing structures. For starters, tastyworks has much more flexible pricing, virtually the same quality of trading platforms as E*Trade, and endless hours of educational video content.
Neither broker charges inactivity fees, but to qualify for E*Trade’s advanced downloadable platform, you’ll have to make more than 30 trades a quarter or have a combined daily balance of more than $25,000. On the contrary, every new client has access to tastywork’s platforms, which can be used to trade futures, options, and stocks.
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tastyworks vs E*Trade 2018 |
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tastyworks |
E*Trade |
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Overall |
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Commissions & Fees |
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Customer Service |
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Trading Platforms |
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Mobile App |
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Overall Ease of Use |
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Promotion Value |
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tastyworks |
E*Trade |
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Minimum Deposit |
$2,500 |
$500 |
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Stock Trade Fee |
$5.00 (free closing trades) |
$6.95 |
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Options Ticket Charge |
None |
$6.95 |
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Options per Contract Fee |
$1.00 (free closing trades) |
$0.75 |
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Mutual Fund Fee |
N/A |
$19.99 |
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Market Data Fee |
Free |
Free |
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Wire fee (outgoing) |
$25 |
$25 |
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Inactivity fee |
None |
None |
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tastyworks |
E*Trade |
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Stocks |
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Options |
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Futures |
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Forex |
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Bonds |
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OTC Stocks |
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Penny Stocks |
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Options on Futures |
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Crypto |
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Mutual Funds |
0 |
8,998 |
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International Trading |
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Advisor Services |
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tastyworks |
E*Trade |
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Web-based |
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Mobile App |
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Downloadable (Mac) |
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Downloadable (PC) |
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Real-time Level II data |
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Real-time Charting |
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Historical Option Data |
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Options Analysis |
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iPad App |
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tastyworks |
E*Trade |
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In-person Branches |
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Customer Service hours |
9-5 CT, M-F, phone + live chat |
24/7 |
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Sum of Client Balances |
Not listed |
Not listed |
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Member FDIC |
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Savings Account |
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Checking Account |
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Free Online Banking |
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tastyworks |
E*Trade |
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Under $24,999 |
8.00% Base Rate + 1.00% |
10.25% |
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$25k-$49,999 |
7.50% Base Rate + 0.50% |
10.00% |
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$50k-$99,999 |
7.00% Base Rate |
9.50% |
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$100k-$249,999 |
6.50% Base Rate – 0.50% |
9.00% |
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$250k-$499,999 |
6.00% Base Rate – 1.00% |
8.50% |
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$500k-$1M |
5.50% Base Rate – 1.50% |
8.00% |
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Above $1M |
5.00% |
7.00% |
Overall, we like tastywork’s more flexible pricing and unique trading platforms when compared to E*Trade. Although tastyworks certainly doesn’t have any in-person branches or trillions of dollars in client assets, they pack a very powerful punch with their trading technology, pricing, and video content available through tastytrade.
E*Trade is still a popular broker, but we don’t see the need to pay almost $7 per trade when tastyworks offers a very similar experience to E*Trade for more than half the cost.
