tastyworks vs TradeStation is a comparison of two brokerages made for active traders. When compared side-by-side, it is clear tastyworks offers better pricing on options, futures, and futures options for small trades of 1 to 10 contracts.
For larger trades, TradeStation offers tiered pricing that is much more economical. With that said, it’s hard to go wrong with either broker if you’re going to trade derivatives.
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tastyworks vs TradeStation 2018 |
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tastyworks |
TradeStation |
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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 |
TradeStation |
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Minimum Deposit |
$2,500 |
$0.00 |
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Stock Trade Fee |
$5.00 (free closing trades) |
$5.00 or $0.002/ share |
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Options Ticket Charge |
None |
$5.00 |
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Options per Contract Fee |
$1.00 (free closing trades) |
$0.50 or $1.00 w/ no ticket |
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Mutual Fund Fee |
N/A |
$14.95 |
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Market Data Fee |
Free |
Free |
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Wire fee (outgoing) |
$25 |
$20 |
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Inactivity fee |
None |
None |
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tastyworks |
TradeStation |
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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 |
4,951 |
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International Trading |
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Advisor Services |
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tastyworks |
TradeStation |
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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 |
TradeStation |
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In-person Branches |
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Customer Service hours |
9-5 CT, M-F, phone + live chat |
24/5 |
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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 |
TradeStation |
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Under $24,999 |
8.00% Base Rate + 1.00% |
8.50% |
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$25k-$49,999 |
7.50% Base Rate + 0.50% |
8.50% |
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$50k-$99,999 |
7.00% Base Rate |
7.75% |
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$100k-$249,999 |
6.50% Base Rate – 0.50% |
7.75% |
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$250k-$499,999 |
6.00% Base Rate – 1.00% |
7.75% |
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$500k-$1M |
5.50% Base Rate – 1.50% |
4.50% |
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Above $1M |
5.00% |
4.50% |
TradeStation recently got rid of their market data fees; this makes TradeStation a lot more competitive and attractive when compared to tastyworks (traders used to have to pay around $50/month for data with TradeStation).
We prefer tastyworks for options trading, and we prefer TradeStation for futures trading, especially international futures trading.
Both brokers are excellent choices for day trading. One thing to keep in mind, tastyworks doesn’t offer access to OTC stocks, so if you want to trade penny stocks, you’ll have to use TradeStation.
If you’re planning on trading 1 to 10 options contracts at a time, we recommend choosing tastyworks, because there are no options ticket charges, and all closing trades are commission-free.
If you plan on trading significantly more than 10 contracts at a time, or plan on doing high-volume, like 200+ contracts a month, TradeStation’s tiered pricing is definitely superior to tastyworks.
