TradeStation vs Interactive Brokers is a great comparison of two online brokers geared towards savvy, advanced stock, options, and futures traders.
It is worth mentioning that TradeStation and Interactive Brokers are some of the few online brokers that offer tired pricing for clients, where commissions become heavily discounted if you trade more than a certain number of contracts or shares in a month.
Overall, TradeStation offers better pricing than Interactive Brokers, and TradeStation doesn’t charge for market data or for account inactivity, where as Interactive Brokers charges for both of these things.
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TradeStation vs Interactive Brokers 2018 |
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TradeStation |
Interactive Brokers |
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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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TradeStation |
Interactive Brokers |
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Minimum Deposit |
$0 |
$10,000 |
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Stock Trade Fee |
$5.00 or $0.002 share |
$0.005 / share ($1 min) |
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Options Ticket Charge |
None or $5 |
None |
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Options per Contract Fee |
$1.00 or $5 + $0.50 |
$0.70 |
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Mutual Fund Fee |
N/A |
$14.95 |
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Market Data Fee |
Free |
$10+ / month (more for futures & options) |
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Wire fee (outgoing) |
$14.95 |
$10.00 |
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Inactivity fee |
None |
$10 – $20 per month |
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TradeStation |
Interactive Brokers |
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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 |
4,951 |
10,051 |
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International Trading |
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Advisor Services |
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TradeStation |
Interactive Brokers |
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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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TradeStation |
Interactive Brokers |
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In-person Branches |
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Customer Service hours |
24/5 |
24/6 email + phone |
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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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TradeStation |
Interactive Brokers |
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Under $24,999 |
8.50% |
3.19% |
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$25k-$49,999 |
8.50% |
2.69% |
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$50k-$99,999 |
7.75% |
2.69% |
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$100k-$249,999 |
7.75% |
2.69% |
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$250k-$499,999 |
7.75% |
2.69% |
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$500k-$1M |
4.50% |
2.69% |
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Above $1M |
4.50% |
2.19% |
For very advanced traders, who plan on trading large amounts of shares, TradeStation actually passes rebates along to clients.
Moreover, TradeStation is also trying to appeal to beginner traders as well, so they recently got rid of their market data fees. For comparison, full market data for options, stocks, and futures with Interactive Brokers costs around $20 to $100 per month depending if you get level 2 data or not.
Not having to pay market data fees with TradeStation is a huge bonus in our opinion. Plus, the account minimum for TradeStation is actually zero, whereas Interactive Brokers charges a steep $10,000 ($3,000 for students).
At the end of the day, TradeStation has demonstrably better pricing (for both beginner and advanced traders), has no inactivity fees, better customer service, and highly customizable trading platforms, and is the clear winner when compared to Interactive Brokers.
