tastytrade Review

In the jungle of online trading platforms, tastytrade is the cheetah. It stalks opportunities, watches for danger, and then chases down its prey lightning-fast for the kill.

tastytrade’s platforms are ideal for frequent options and futures traders, thanks to their efficient workflows, useful risk management tools, killer design, and online content that make you feel like you’re on a trading desk.

Overall Summary

Investment options

Traders will find more than enough to keep them busy through the trading day, but if you want to sock money away in a CD ladder or mutual funds, you won’t find those products here. tastytrade's platforms fully support listed stocks, ETFs, options, cryptocurrencies, futures, and options on futures. Some investments can be bought over the phone or held in accounts, but might not appear on the platform. Treasurys will appear on the desktop but need to be bought by calling the order in.

Cryptocurrency: Pricing is excellent (see below). tastytrade currently offers four coins for crypto trading (down from an original eight): Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. tastytrade doesn’t support short positions, redeeming coins, or transferring crypto into the account (but you are now able to withdraw to an external wallet).

Commissions and fees

The sizzle on the tastytrade steak is its options and crypto pricing, thanks to very low caps on the former and no commission on the latter. tastytrade's per-contract commission is 23% less than Fidelity and Schwab; and tastytrade charges a maximum commission of $10 per leg for options.

Stocks and ETFs: Stocks and ETFs trade commission-free.

Options: Stock and ETF options are charged $1 per contract to open, with a maximum of $10 per leg to open, and nothing to close. For comparison purposes, that’s $0.50 per contract each way, which is a shade cheaper than the $0.65 per contract charged by Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, and Fidelity Investments. But the $10 maximum charge per leg can lead to sweet savings on larger trades.

Options on futures are charged by the round trip, but there’s no maximum commission. Options on futures are $2.50 per contract. On micros, they are $1.50.

Penny stocks: Penny stocks aren’t supported at tastytrade.

Futures: Unlike the stock options and equity options pricing, these are charged on both sides of the trade and don’t have a maximum amount. Futures are $1.25 per contract, micros are $0.85, and Smalls are $0.25.

Cryptocurrency: Crypto trading at tastytrade is now commission-free (previously it was 1% per side). Big-time crypto traders will appreciate this change. Note that tastytrade and its liquidity provider are compensated from the bid/ask spreads by applying a markup or markdown of 35 basis points to the raw price feed, as is common in the industry.

Mobile trading apps

tastytrade’s biggest strength is its desktop platform, but there’s enough tap-happy finger trading goodness on the mobile app to drum up some serious blisters. Tap. You’re long. Tap and drag. You’ve canceled and replaced an order. Tap again. UR out. It’s that sort of an experience. The client dashboard and market news are new and very, very welcome.

Ease of use: The app is easy to use, but not intuitive. It’ll take some time before you navigate the app efficiently. Once you become familiar with the desktop platform, the app will make perfect sense. It’s super fast, and complex options orders are a snap to enter.

Watch lists: Watch lists can be scrolled both horizontally and vertically, something to keep in mind with many of tastytrade’s features. Personal watch lists sync across devices. You can pick and choose which columns are displayed.

Charting: On the mobile app, charts are crisp. Horizontal view is supported, as is zooming in and out. You can’t mark up charts with studies or annotations on the app, unlike the gazillion options available on the desktop.

Trading tools: With tastytrade's futures and options focus, it’s a good thing that risk management and order entry are front and center. Profit and loss diagrams are clear and you can adjust trades right on the graph. Dropdown option strategies quickly populate the order ticket fields and you can point and drag options legs until the probability of profit estimate, implied volatility and max gain/loss fit your plan.

Video content: Videos from tastylive, tastytrade's affiliated education network (which was itself formerly called tastytrade — a bit confusing, but stick with us), are available in the app. Don’t miss them. They are informal, even irreverent at times, and teach sophisticated topics while they comment on market action. They are as good a group of trading mentors as anyone could hope for.

Tap for a demo of tastytrade's app.

Other trading platforms and tools

tastytrade has a leg up (options traders — get it?) on its competition when it comes to efficient workflow and attractive design. We expect traders will be happiest on the desktop application, but there’s also a very functional browser-based platform. Some other brokers have platforms that are easier to master, others will allow you to trade more instruments, and there are brokers that provide more tools, but tastytrade stands out for how well it serves its target customers.

Like the mobile app, fundamental data and market news are readily accessible on the desktop platform and all platforms have useful client dashboards with market news.

Platforms overview: tastytrade's user interface is designed for efficient navigation and working well on one screen. You can enjoy a leisurely coffee at Starbucks and trade from your laptop without wishing you had six more 27” screens behind that venti Americano. The tradeoff for this smaller space is less customization than, say, Charles Schwab’s thinkorswim or Interactive Brokers’ Trader Workstation.

tastytrade has gutsy graphic designers, too. Not many brokers would use red and black as their primary design colors, but it helps tastytrade stand out from the crowd. I like it. It appeals to my anything-goes trader mentality, or at least the one I like to pretend I have.

Web platform: The browser-based platform is similar to the desktop platform, but doesn’t have quite the laser-like legibility. If your glasses have lenses as thick as the Hoover Dam (as mine do) you may even prefer the browser. For trading while traveling or at work (we won’t tell), the web platform is absolutely fine and a cut above many competitors. The charts are great and you can maintain a journal, a nice feature we’d love to see every broker offer.

Charting: On the desktop, the charts are crisp and, unlike the mobile, highly customizable. There are hundreds of technical studies and 19 drawing tools, all anyone could possibly need. The chart window can be subdivided into four independent charts. Charting on the browser platform isn’t as rich as the desktop and comes off like a work in progress.

tastytrade trading tools: The desktop supports clicking and dragging on several views to adjust orders. The profit/loss tool caters to options and can support multiple strategies. Watch lists sync across all platforms, and it’s easy to edit the watch lists and edit column views. Fundamental data is sorely lacking. We like how stock news is presented, in a readily available column.

Options trading: Futures and options are where tastytrade stands out, combining ease of use with advanced analysis and sophisticated profit and loss diagrams. Traders get tremendous value for that low options pricing.

Research

My biggest pet peeve about tastytrade when last reviewed was its skimpy financial data and news. I understood that tasty wants to keep the platform lean and quick, but I still prefer to know the basics of what I’m buying or selling. Happily, the broker recently added financial statement data and stock news feeds.

There’s a new dashboard view that splashes market news, account performance, and new feature announcements. I think they’re smart adds and they don’t detract from efficient trading. They’re just there when you want them.

Having shared that welcome news, the research is still thin. If you like to peruse stock research reports or shop for ETFs according to tracking errors and expense ratios, you might want to keep an account with another broker.

Education

There’s not much education on tastytrade, at least not the same sort that you’ll find at Charles Schwab or Fidelity. tastytrade assumes that anyone logging on to the platform has at least an intermediate level knowledge level. Instead, you get an ongoing stream of commentary and programming that feels as if you found trading mentors.

Learning center: There’s a nascent learning center that has a ton of platform tutorials and a few educational pieces that are burdened with too much jargon. Pure novices will find the education intimidating. tastytrade’s affiliate network, tastylive, provides educational content on its website that covers the full range from beginner to expert trading.

Videos: The live video feed embedded in all the platforms is where you can level up your trading chops. You learn through watching traders discuss the markets and what they think is important. While doing that, they goof around, they tease each other, and maybe a few less-than-pristine words are uttered. It’s entertaining as well as informative. My only gripe is that the video player can take a while to initially load. It’s worth the wait.

Customer service

To score Customer Service, StockBrokers.com partners with customer experience research firm Confero to conduct phone tests from locations throughout the United States. For this year's testing, 135 customer service tests were conducted over six weeks, with wait times logged for each call.

Customer service representatives were asked for assistance or details for prospective customers in several areas of broker services, including account opening, trading tools, apps, rollovers, active trading, and more. Here are the results for tastytrade.

• Average Connection Time: 1-2 minute
• Average Net Promoter Score: 7.8 / 10
• Average Professionalism Score: 6.5 / 10
• Overall Score: 7.37 / 10
• Ranking: 10th of 13 brokers

Banking services

tastytrade is not a bank brokerage, and traditional banking services aren’t currently offered — but you guessed that by now, didn’t you? Given its target market of active traders, we don’t expect to see tastytrade-branded travel rewards programs anytime soon.

Final thoughts

If you trade options, futures and crypto, tastytrade is an outstanding choice. Long term investors, mutual fund buyers and Warren Buffett wannabes will find other brokers cater better to their needs.

Here are our three top takeaways for tastytrade for 2024:

1. tastytrade's platforms are speedy, the tools are useful, and the workflow is efficient.
2. Options and crypto pricing are outstanding for larger trades.
3. tastytrade goes its own way, and we think they’re doing it right.

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• Best Stock Trading Platforms for Beginners of 2024
• Best Paper Trading Platforms for 2024
• Best Stock Trading Apps for 2024
• Best Stock Brokers & Trading Platforms for 2024

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Popular Stock Broker Reviews

Is tastytrade a good broker?

tastytrade is an excellent broker for options and crypto traders, thanks to fee caps on options and no commission on crypto, sophisticated tools, and very efficient trading workflows. Though the name is relatively new on the scene, it was founded by well-known industry veterans and is owned by a large U.K. financial services company, IG Group.

Is my money safe with tastytrade?

Yes, your money is safe. tastytrade is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corp., or SIPC. Your account is covered against broker insolvency for up to $500,000 per customer (of which $250,000 can be in cash). This coverage doesn’t protect you against investment losses. Brokers in the U.S. are highly regulated and, though tastytrade is relatively new on the scene, the people behind tastytrade are respected industry veterans.

How much does it cost to open a tastytrade account?

tastytrade doesn’t have an account minimum and there’s no charge to open a tastytrade account. Stocks and ETFs trade commission-free; stock and ETF options are $1 per contract to a maximum of $10 per leg to open. Options on futures are $2.50 per contract.

Does tastytrade provide a paper trading account?

No, tastytrade does not provide a paper trading account. If you wish to open a demo account, and practice with virtual money, you'll need to consider a competitor like Webull's trading app or Charles Schwab's thinkorswim platform. For a full run-down on the best brokers for simulated trading, check out my guide to paper trading.

How much are tastytrade withdrawal fees?

tastytrade does not charge for ACH withdrawals.

• Domestic wires: $25
• Foreign wires: $45
• Domestic check: $5
• Foreign check: $10
• Dividend check: $5
• Outgoing domestic overnight checks: $50
• Outgoing foreign overnight checks: $100

Does tastytrade have an app?

tastytrade has an excellent mobile trading app that has much of the feel of the desktop platform. It’s available for both iOS and Android, and runs well on iPad.

How do I contact tastytrade?

You can contact tastytrade via clicking on the speech bubble on the website and harassing the chatbot until it gives up and offers phone and live chat support, or you can directly dial tastytrade at (888) 247-1963.

What is the difference between tastyworks and tastytrade?

tastytrade, an online trading-focused broker, is the new name of tastyworks following a rebranding in 2023. What is now tastylive, a trading education platform, used to be known as tastytrade. IG Group, a U.K.-based financial services provider, owns the whole tastytrade smorgasbord after acquiring the companies in late 2021.

About tastytrade

tastytrade is the brokerage arm, launched in 2017 (and formerly called tastyworks), of investing education and insights network tastylive (originally called tastytrade) which dates to 2011. tastytrade’s chief executive officer and chief technology officer hail from thinkorswim, the groundbreaking trading platform now owned by TD Ameritrade; as does tastytrade’s CEO. tastytrade and tastylive were acquired in 2021 by London-based fintech firm IG Group (OTC: IGGHY), which had a market capitalization of £2.53 billion as of October 2023.

tastytrade 2024 Results

For the StockBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards, announced on Jan. 23, 2024, all U.S. equity brokers we reviewed were assessed on over 200 different variables across eight areas: Commissions & Fees, Investment Options, Platforms & Tools, Research, Mobile Trading, Education, Ease of Use, and Overall.

StockBrokers.com also presented “Best in Class” awards to brokers for additional categories Beginners, Options Trading, Futures Trading, Day Trading, IRA Accounts, Investor Community, Penny Stock Trading, Bank Brokerage, High Net Worth Investors, and Customer Service. A “Best in Class” designation means finishing in the top five brokers for that category.

For more information, see how we test.

Category awards

Industry awards

StockBrokers.com Review Methodology

Our mission at StockBrokers.com is simple: provide thorough and unbiased reviews of online brokers, based on an extraordinary level of hands-on testing and data collection. Our ratings and awards are based on this data and our in-house experts’ deep authority in the field; brokers cannot pay for preferential treatment. Here’s more about trustworthiness at StockBrokers.com.

Our research team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of features, products, services, and tools for U.S. investors, collecting and validating thousands of data points in the process; this makes StockBrokers.com home to the largest independent database on the web covering the online broker industry. We test all available trading platforms for each broker and evaluate them based on a host of data-driven variables.

As part of our process, all brokers had the annual opportunity to provide updates and key milestones and complete an in-depth data profile, which we hand-checked for accuracy. Brokers also were offered the opportunity to provide executive time for an annual update meeting.

Our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors quality data they can trust. Learn more about how we test or about StockBrokers.com.

tastytrade fees and features data

The data collection efforts at StockBrokers.com are unmatched in the industry. The following tables show a deeper dive into the offerings available at this broker. You can also compare its offerings side-by-side with those of other brokers using our Comparison Tool.

In addition to meticulous annual data collection by our in-house analyst, every broker that participates in our review is afforded the opportunity to complete an in-depth data profile. We then audit each data point to ensure its accuracy.

Trading fees

Account fees

Margin rates

Investment options

Order types

Beginners

Stock trading apps

Stock app features

Stock app charting

Trading platforms overview

Trading platform stock chart features

Day trading features

Investment research overview

Stock research features

ETF research features

Mutual fund research features

Options trading overview

Banking features

Customer service options

About the Editorial Team