Best Options Trading Platforms for Beginners: What Each One Charges (2026)
Opening and closing 10 option contracts costs nothing at two platforms and $40 at another. The bigger cost is one no fee table shows.
By Pavel Penev, MScFounder, TradeWize · 10+ years trading the marketsEvery options broker says it's cheap. Some say $0. Some say $0.65 a contract. One says $1 to open and nothing to close.
Those prices are hard to compare in your head. So we took one trade and priced it at seven platforms: buy 10 contracts of a stock option at $2, then sell them again.
The short answer
Webull and Robinhood charge nothing on stock and ETF options. tastytrade costs $12 for our 10-contract trade. Interactive Brokers, Schwab and Fidelity cost $13. Saxo's UK Classic tier costs $40. But a ten-cent bid-ask spread on the same trade costs $100. Pick a platform you trust, then save more by using limit orders than by switching brokers.
What this article is, and isn't
This is a comparison of published prices, not a recommendation. TradeWize isn't a broker, has no affiliate links on this page and gives no personal financial advice. Every rate was read off the broker's own website on 2026-10-09, and every source is linked at the end. Options can lose you your whole stake quickly, and prices change, so check the broker's page before you trade.
How we priced it
An option on a US stock covers 100 shares. So 10 contracts at $2 cost $2,000 in premium. That's the price of the options themselves, and it's the same everywhere.
What changes is what the broker adds. We counted the commission, any per-contract fee and tastytrade's own clearing fee. We charged it once to open the trade and once to close it.
We left out the regulatory fees every broker passes on. They're a few cents a contract wherever you trade. Robinhood, for example, bundles them into $0.04 a contract.
What seven platforms charge
| Platform | What it charges | 1 contract | 10 contracts | 50 contracts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Webull (US) | $0 commission and no contract fee on stock and ETF options | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Robinhood (US) | Commission-free on stock and ETF options | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| tastytrade (US) | $1 a contract to open, capped at $10 a leg, $0 to close, plus $0.10 a contract clearing | $1.20 | $12 | $20 |
| Interactive Brokers (US (IBKR Pro)) | $0.65 a contract on premiums of $0.10 or more, minimum $1 an order | $2 | $13 | $65 |
| Charles Schwab (US) | $0 base commission plus $0.65 a contract | $1.30 | $13 | $65 |
| Fidelity (US) | $0.65 a contract; buy-to-close at $0.65 or less is free | $1.30 | $13 | $65 |
| Saxo (UK (Classic tier)) | $2 a contract on US-listed options | $4 | $40 | $200 |
Rates read off each broker's own pricing page or fee schedule on 2026-10-09, for options on US stocks and ETFs. Totals are open plus close, before regulatory pass-through fees. Saxo's Platinum and VIP tiers charge $1 and $0.75 a contract.
Three prices cover most of the table. Webull and Robinhood charge $0. Interactive Brokers, Schwab and Fidelity charge $0.65 a contract each way. tastytrade charges $1 a contract to open and nothing to close.
Size changes the order. On 50 contracts, tastytrade's $10 cap kicks in, and it costs $20 against $65 at the $0.65 brokers. On a single contract, Interactive Brokers' $1 minimum per order makes it the dearest of the US platforms at $2.
If you hold to expiry, the order flips
Plenty of options are never closed. They expire worthless, or you let them run out. Then you only pay the opening side.
On 10 contracts held to expiry, the $0.65 brokers cost $6.50. tastytrade costs $11, because its whole charge sits on the opening trade. So tastytrade suits traders who close early, and the $0.65 brokers suit traders who hold.
Exercise and assignment
If your option is exercised, or you're assigned on one you sold, some brokers charge a fee. tastytrade charges $5. Interactive Brokers, Schwab and Fidelity charge nothing. Webull and Robinhood don't list a fee for it on their pricing pages.
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Spreads and iron condors use two or four options at once. Each one is a leg, and each leg pays its own commission.
A four-leg trade with 10 contracts a leg, opened and closed, costs $48 at tastytrade, $52 at Interactive Brokers, $52 at Charles Schwab, $52 at Fidelity, $160 at Saxo. It's still $0 at Webull and Robinhood.
That matters most for small trades. If a four-leg trade can make you $100 at best, $52 in fees takes half of it.
The cost no fee table shows: the spread
Every option has two prices. The bid is what buyers will pay. The ask is what sellers want. Say our option is $1.95 bid and $2.05 ask. The $2 in the middle is the mid.
Buy at the ask and you pay $2,050 for 10 contracts, not $2,000. Sell at the bid and you lose the same again on the way out. That's $100 on one round trip.
Spreads are often wider than ten cents on less popular options. That's why a limit order matters more than the platform. A limit at or near the mid often fills, and it can save more than the whole commission.
There's a reason $0 brokers can charge $0. Most US brokers are paid by market makers for sending them your option orders. It's called payment for order flow, and every broker must disclose it in a quarterly report under SEC Rule 606. It doesn't mean you get a bad price, but it's why a free trade isn't the whole story.
If you're not in the US
Most of these prices are for US accounts. Interactive Brokers, tastytrade and Saxo take clients from many other countries, but the rate you pay depends on where you live, so check your country's page.
US options trade in dollars. If your account is in pounds, euros or another currency, converting the money can cost more than the commission. We priced that conversion at four platforms in our guide to the best trading platforms for beginners.
Some countries also limit which options a retail trader can buy, or ask you to pass an experience test first. Your broker will tell you when you apply.
Which platform fits which trader
- Small, occasional trades: Webull or Robinhood cost $0 in commission. Use limit orders, since that's where your real cost is.
- Bigger trades you close early: tastytrade's $10 cap a leg makes it the cheapest of the paid platforms.
- Trades you hold to expiry: Interactive Brokers, Schwab and Fidelity charge $0.65 a contract to open and nothing more. None of the three charges for exercise or assignment.
- Outside the US: Interactive Brokers and Saxo both take clients in many countries. Saxo costs more per contract on its Classic tier, so compare what you'd pay in currency conversion too.
Whichever you pick, check two things the fee table can't tell you. Is the broker regulated where you live? And does its app let you place a limit order on every leg of a spread?
Which options trading platform has the lowest fees?
On stock and ETF options, Webull and Robinhood charge no commission and no contract fee. Of the paid platforms, tastytrade is cheapest if you close your trades: $12 to open and close 10 contracts, against $13 at Schwab, Fidelity and Interactive Brokers.
How much does it cost to trade one option contract?
Opening and closing one contract costs $0 at Webull, $0 at Robinhood, $1.20 at tastytrade, $2 at Interactive Brokers, $1.30 at Charles Schwab, $1.30 at Fidelity, $4 at Saxo. A few cents of regulatory fees come on top everywhere.
Are commission-free options really free?
There's no commission, but you still pay small regulatory fees and the bid-ask spread. Free brokers are often paid by market makers for your orders. Using limit orders is the best way to keep the spread cost down.
Do index options cost more?
Often, yes. Exchanges charge extra on index options like SPX. Webull adds $0.50 a contract on some index options, and Robinhood adds $0.50, or $0.35 with Gold, plus the exchange's own fee.
Can I trade US options from outside the US?
Often, yes, through a broker that takes international clients, such as Interactive Brokers, tastytrade or Saxo. Rules differ by country, and you'll usually pay a currency conversion fee on top of the commission.
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