Winners Summary
Best DAS Trader Pro Broker - Interactive Brokers
| Company |
Minimum Deposit |
Stock Trades |
Options (Per Contract) |
 Interactive Brokers
|
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.65 |
Interactive Brokers caters to experienced traders with its wide range of professional-grade tools, low fees, and global market access. I think that active traders and day traders will find a lot to like at IBKR; in 2024, Interactive Brokers took home the StockBrokers.com Annual Awards for #1 Platform Technology and #1 Professional Trading. The broker’s flagship Trader Workstation (TWS) platform supports trading across nearly every asset class; simply put, Interactive Brokers provides the most diverse offering in the industry.
Pricing: The platform fee is $100 per month with additional charges for data (Note: those fees are not waived by high-volume trading). For high-volume traders, IBKR Pro’s tiered pricing plan starts at $.0035 per share (with a minimum of $0.35 per trade and a maximum of 1% of the trade value), unless you’re trading 300,000 or more shares monthly, which can drive it down to as low as $.0005. It’s also worth noting that Interactive Brokers does not accept payment for order flow for its IBKR Pro account.
Learn more by reading my in-depth Interactive Brokers review.
Priced for smaller traders – Lightspeed
| Company |
Overall |
 Lightspeed
|
 |
Lightspeed’s advanced tools and features are well-suited for active day traders or fast-paced, high-volume traders. That said, it’s not a platform I’d recommend for beginner traders or traditional long-term investing; the platform is likely too complex for new traders and casual investors won’t benefit from the pricing structure. Stocks, ETFs, options, futures, and crypto can all be traded on the Lightspeed platform.
Pricing: Lightspeed charges $130 per month for the platform but the fee is offset by commissions. To avoid account fees of $25 per month, all it takes is $25 in commissions or $15,000 in equity. The commission per share is $0.001 to $0.0035 with a minimum commission of $0.25. For Lightspeed’s web and mobile platforms, you’ll pay a per-trade commission of $3.99 for equities and $0.50 per contract for options.
Lowest base platform fees – SpeedTrader
| Company |
Overall |
 SpeedTrader
|
|
SpeedTrader’s SpeedTraderPro desktop platform is described by the broker as being “designed specifically for day traders.” Like the other providers on my list, beginner stock traders should look elsewhere if they are looking for easy-to-use, intuitive trading platforms like you’ll find at Robinhood or Schwab.
The SpeedTraderPro platform offers a variety of customizable tools designed to enhance the trading experience for active traders. You can create, save, and load custom multi-screen layouts, create custom watchlists, and use over 100 hot keys for faster order entries.
Pricing: The platform base fee is only $99 per month, which is waived after $499 in commissions. Commissions range from $0.0009 to $0.0025 per share, but there’s a minimum commission of $2.49. The account minimum is $10,000.
Low account minimum - ChoiceTrade
| Company |
Overall |
 ChoiceTrade
|
 |
ChoiceTrade is best suited for high-volume stock and options traders who are looking for a platform with affordable options contracts (the per-contract fee for options at ChoiceTrade is only $0.40). Traders will also find commission-free stocks (for all “NYSE and Nasdaq stocks”) and ETFs, but there isn’t a whole lot else you can trade at ChoiceTrade. Like the other platforms on this list, ChoiceTrade is most suitable for active day traders or traders with high-volume strategies.
Pricing: If you want to dip your toes into DAS Trader Pro, ChoiceTrade requires only $100 to open a cash account. Keep in mind those pattern day trading rules, though. The platform fee is $135 per month and commissions range from $0.001 to $0.003 with a minimum commission per trade of $2. Note: Some of ChoiceTrade's most advanced features are locked away behind the ChoiceTrade Elite platform.
FAQs
How much does DAS Trader Pro cost?
Traders can expect to pay $100 - $200 a month, depending on the data packages they require to trade. DAS Trader Pro data can be purchased directly from DAS, or through the brokers noted in this guide. If you subscribe to DAS Trader Pro directly, you are subscribing to use the trading platform without any order routing or execution. Traders should examine their trading activity before deciding to open an account with a broker that offers the DAS Trader Pro platform.
What brokers are compatible with DAS Trader?
As of February 2024, DAS Trader Pro is supported by these U.S. brokers:
- ChoiceTrade
- CenterPoint Securities
- Cobra Trading
- Guardian Trading
- Interactive Brokers
- Lightspeed
- Mondeum Capital
- SpeedTrader
Does DAS Trader Pro have a mobile app?
Yes. DAS Trader Pro is one of the few mobile trading applications to offer real-time Level 2 data. The DAS Trader Pro app provides the ability to locate shorts, display depth for options and use trade signals. Looking for something else? Check out my guide to the best stock trading apps.
Does DAS Trader work on Mac?
Yes, you can run DAS Trader Pro on a Mac device by using Apple’s Boot Camp utility. That said, DAS Trader Pro is intended to be used on a Windows device.
What trading features does DAS Trader Pro offer?
Most widgets on DAS Trader Pro have multiple layers of customizability, allowing traders to change colors, columns, and more. Customizable trading hotkeys allow traders to perform tasks like pulling up news or custom day charts, or buy and sell shares at a specific ask or bid price.
Another feature that all DAS Trader Pro brokers offer is a short locator tool, a useful tool for any trader with a short-selling strategy. DAS Trader Pro also offers a trade signals tool, which allows users to screen stocks based on thresholds such as price movement, volume, and percentage points gained/lost.
What can you trade on DAS Trader Pro?
About DAS Trader Pro
DAS, the company that offers DAS Trader Pro, is a market data provider for the CBSX, Nasdaq OMX, and NYSE/ARCA, among others. DAS provides access to NYSE floor brokers and routing strategies for exchanges, ALGO, dark pools, and liquidity providers.
The primary advantage of using DAS Trader Pro is speed and quality of execution, thanks to its ability to route orders through over 100 different market makers. Traders can route orders based on the exchange of the underlying asset they want to trade. In this regard, direct-access brokers can compete with market leaders like Interactive Brokers.
Our testing
Why you should trust us
Sam Levine, CFA, CMT, formerly a lead writer for StockBrokers.com, has over 30 years of investing experience and actively trades stocks, ETFs, options, futures, and options on futures. He's held roles as a portfolio manager, financial consultant, investment strategist and journalist. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designations and served on the board of directors of the CMT Association.
Blain Reinkensmeyer, co-founder of StockBrokers.com, has been investing and trading for over 25 years. After having placed over 2,000 trades in his late teens and early 20s, he became one of the first in digital media to review online brokerages. Today, Blain is widely respected as a leading expert on finance and investing, specifically the U.S. online brokerage industry. Blain has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fast Company, among others. Blain created the original scoring rubrics for StockBrokers.com and oversees all testing and rating methodologies.
How we tested
- We used our own brokerage accounts for testing.
- We collected multiple data points for each broker.
- We tested each online broker's website and mobile app, where applicable.
- We maintained strict editorial independence; brokers cannot pay for inclusion or a higher rating.
Our research team meticulously collected data on features with particular importance to those saving for retirement, such as trading costs, management fees, availability of fee-free funds, ease of website and app use, and retirement planning tools and resources.
At StockBrokers.com, our reviewers use a variety of computing devices to evaluate platforms and tools. Our reviews and data collection were conducted using the following devices: iPhone SE running iOS 17.5.1, MacBook Pro M1 with 8 GB RAM running the current MacOS, and a Dell Vostro 5402 laptop i5 with 8 GB RAM running Windows 11 Pro.
Each broker was evaluated and scored in seven key categories: retirement account types, IRA fees, self-directed investment options, managed investment options, retirement planning tools, rollover experience, and ease of use.
Fidelity
Merrill Edge
E*TRADE
TradeStation
Interactive Brokers
Charles Schwab
tastytrade
eToro
