TradeStation Reviews

by Narar, 5/18/2019

Pros: None

Cons: Terrible Customer Service, Subpar Platform, IT Support Horrible

Stay Away!

I have had brokerage accounts with roughly 10 different brokerage companies and by far Tradestation is the worst. For whatever reason I couldn't log into my account roughly a month after opening my account. Since it happened on a Friday afternoon I had to wait until Monday to contact them since they offer no weekend support. When I called they told me that my "dataline" was erased so they had to give me a new username/password and I had to fill out my agreement forms all over again. I took them at least an hour to input my information again. That has never to me before.

I also signed up for the per trade plan that basically has no fees for their software/data feeds, but I was still charged a monthly subscription fee. They did refund the fees, so I will give them that. As compensation for their errors, I asked for some free trades for the inconvenience, but they didn't want to. Bad move of their part.

Also how they count day trades is absurd. Buy 100 shares XYZ at 10, then another 100 shares at 11. After that sell 200 shares XYZ at 12, they count that as 2 trades. Interactive Brokers counts that as 1 trade.

In summary, my account was compromised, charged subscription fees for stuff that should of been free and denied my request for free stock trades that I felt like I deserved for their errors.

Tradestation is the worst ever. Go with TD Ameritrade, Interactive Brokers or JP Morgan Chase. I have accounts with them and I am happy with them.

by Karl, 4/13/2019

Pros: -

Cons: -

I'm confused. If you look at every broker review they give Tradestation at least 4/5 stars. Here it's like the nightmare. I was thinking about opening an account at Tradestation but after reading this i'm not sure....

by Gemma Hughes, 4/9/2019

Pros: none

Cons: Took my money and delivered nothing

Tradestaion have taken another payment from my bank despite a non exsistant service and confirming the subscription was cancelled. Avoid like the plague #tradestation #scam

by Misha, 3/19/2019

Pros: Decent charting

Cons: Everything else

As Trevor above pointed out, i had the same experience one for one.

Starting with downloading their software and half of features not working, then not being able to wire out and close the account properly.

A bunch of buttwipes. i will NEVER EVER touch tradestation after this experience.

by Rufus, 3/16/2019

Pros: None

Cons: Very stupid brokerage firm. Can not do anything correct. Makes mistakes at your expense .

Do not use
Go else where.

by Trevor, 3/15/2019

Pros: No idea

Cons: Poor customer service and horrendous technical support

I have used alternative brokers and platforms for 15 years, and always wanted to try the TradeStation platform despite the higher fees. I am sorry I did. Maybe some people have had a good experience with this company, but before signing up, I'd strongly suggest you call their customer service line at least once - then decide!

Setting up an account was relatively easy (because you essentially do it yourself, online, by providing credit card information), but not completely painless (the only glitches were caused by unclear information provided by the customer rep).

I then downloaded and installed the software on a new machine I have set up specifically for trading. I could not launch the software, and so called customer service. That was the start of a nightmare of excessive wait times (>1h), multiple calls being dropped and not returned, being handed off on almost every occasion to other "specialists" who were unable to help. The conclusion after 5 days of trying on my part to get the platform up and running, several cumulative hours of waiting on the phone, and dealing with at least 5 different people, was: "Sorry, some computers just randomly won't run the software." i said that i would then have no choice but to close my account - "go ahead", was the response.

Then the nightmare continued as I attempted to close my account. Surprise surprise, you cannot do this online: opening an account is super easy...closing an account...not so much. Multiple calls and hours of waiting later...when I finally got to speak to a rep and he finally closed my account, he didn't even bother to ask why! Obviously they don't care!

Horrendous service and a horrible experience - i will never have anything to do with this company again.

by Stephen, 3/10/2019

Pros: Regulated by top tier financial authorit. High amount of investor protection. Parent company listed on stock exchange.

Cons: Negative balance protection not available. Practically no email support. Credit/Debit card deposit and withdrawal not available

The brokerage is registered with SEC and has good relations with FIRA. Also, a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). TradeStation is one of the best direct access brokers. There are also extensive additional resources as well as customer support staff who can answer any questions. You cannot sync watch lists across platforms. Instead you have to keep them separately which detracts from the overall user experience.Accounts are guaranteed for massive funds but TradeStation will not cover any loss that is a result of unauthorized use of their services, while there has been much disscussion of the role regulators can play in face of events like this- I stress the need for companies and customers especially to take the lead in educating themselves, visit info(at)finance-recovery,ch for adequate support and guidance.

by Chris Cardillo, 3/5/2019

Pros: I can’t think of any

Cons: horrible platform cost me thousands because of glitches

if you want to make money do not use this platform is so unreliable and anytime you have a problem they blame it on you and flat out still your money at some point this business will be audited and held responsible for how much money they have cost people it’s so bad at one point I was forced to write down all my trades and take screenshots of everything then when I brought the proof that their platform was broken they denied it even though I had proof. They will not help you they will only help you in taking your money. I guarantee if you use this platform you will not make money

by x customer, 12/16/2018

Pros: none

Cons: bad customer service

really bad customer service, the message center is a joke and don't expect the agents to help you.

by S, 12/13/2018

Pros: None

Cons: Worst customer service I have ever experienced at any broker.

I have had accounts at E-Trade - good customer service. At Ameritrade - great customer service. ( excellent platform)
Fidelity - great customer service. And other brokers as well.

For some reason Trade Station has made a conscious definite decision to not care at all about customer service. You will wait on hold for a very, very long time.

They know this and they simply do not care at all or it would not be like this. Yes, the platform is good but at the expense of zero customer service. Not worth it. Go to Ameritrade.

by Clifdonger, 11/8/2018

Pros: No benefit whatsoever

Cons: The trading platform doesn't work. Tech people are totally clueless. Support is non-existent.

I've had an account for about three weeks. I'm afraid to place a trade. The simulated trading platform doesn't work. Generates trades for some event that occurred two hours ago. You can't get the platform to generate trades overnight while you're away from the computer. I'd be a fool to try this with real money. By the way, I trade only ONE item; and yet, their system couldn't even handle that. Don't be fooled by the bells and whistles. This is the worst broker AND trading platform on earth. They say it'll cost me $125 to move my account to another broker. BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!

by skrubtrader, 10/29/2018

Pros: Platform good as some others, but falling behind fast, once was the best.

Cons: Worst fking cust support ever on the planet

Run as far and as fast as you can or you WILL REGRET IT. On hold for 52 mins. I have never been treated so bad, they may not be around much longer, RUDE. Very sad, years ago they were the best. NOW THEY SUCK

by Patrick, 10/9/2018

Pros: None

Cons: No customer service. Horrible to deal with. Broken software. Only runs on PC.

Just try to transfer an account out of tradestation. Nearly impossible to accomplish. $50 desk trade fee. $500 charge if you want certificates. half an hour on hold to get to anyone in customer service who are grumpy and don't want to help you.

by Brandon, 9/24/2018

Pros:

Cons:

I had read reviews on which broker to trade futures with.

It seemed like Tradestation was always in the top 2.

Apparently, whoever compiled the reviews was biased, or they had never tried reaching the phone number for their customer support.

I set up an account with a user pw, etc. When I received an email confirming that my account was set up, I tried following the instructions on that email. I had some problems and decided to call TS for some help. This was during a weekday during normal business hours. The first call was made during late morning hours. I was on hold for more than 10 minutes, got tired and hung up.

I decided to call back a couple of hours later. This time, apparently their system recognized my phone number, because a message indicated that I would be placed at the beginning of the queue. After about 10 or 12 minutes I had enough.

My current broker is Etrade. I have never, in 5 years waited this long

by kris, 9/17/2018

Pros:

Cons: Poor Customer Service!! 9/17/2018

Reset numbers are provided for your account, when called, the platform desk refers you the multi numbers you have been waiting on to service you before calling the reset numbers. Always a recording and long wait times! Once they are in possession of your money, getting any assistance is IMPOSSIBLE. DO NOT OPEN ANY ACCOUNTS NO MATTER HOW CHEAP THEIR COMMISSIONS ARE. You are wasting your money and time!!!! Same garbage, different day!!!!! Have been trying to contact their Client Services for now three days!!!!!!

by The real deal, 9/13/2018

Pros: Hey Thomas

Cons:

Every broker does that you fucking retard. Go back to robinhood

by Thomas, 9/11/2018

Pros:

Cons: 4th order blocked - you can only place 3 orders a day !

I funded my account with 10K
I wanted to place several trades at different prices of 3 different stock.
Altogether I wanted to place 9 orders (3 orders of each stock at different price).
After placing the 4th order - you get this bullshit : EC501: Day trading margin rules, too many opening trades.

They now request customers to fund the account with 25.000$ in order to be able more trades, even though I have 10.000$ free cash with them.

They claim if you place more than 3 trades you are a daytrader - but NO OTHER brokerage firm has this stupid rule in place.
What a waste of time.
With any other broker you can place as many trades as YOU want providing you don't go over available funds.

What a JOKE.

by John, 9/7/2018

Pros: Nothing

Cons: Terrible Service

Terrible service, bad manners, slow answering from support, long hold times, bad software tutorials. Before you even think about transferring 1 cent to them, call their support 3-5 times at different times of the day. No manners, bad support, lack of support and all. Wouldnt + dont recommend them. Pulled out all my funds after about 2 weeks. Would not recommend them at all.

by John R, 8/21/2018

Pros: None

Cons: Too many to list

Customer support is horrible and they change policy with out notifying their clients.... Shameful behavior...

by steve, 7/24/2018

Pros:

Cons: awful platform

This platform is so slow and glitchy it is practically worthless. Anytime the market starts to move at all your system will freeze or crash. Do yourself a favor and take your business elsewhere.

by HUY, 6/20/2018

Pros: NONE

Cons: If you Open a IRA Account Then Check out other Broker before you open 1 with TradeStation

Huge mistake opening an SEP IRA account at TradeStation. Customer service is absolutely the worst. Unless you experience it, you simply won't believe it. They only help you before the account is open. After the Account is open they do whatever they what after they have your money. I wish I see this website before I open an account with them.

by DayTrader, 6/19/2018

Pros: You can automate your trades

Cons: Rude Customer Service

Their customer service are not really helpful and so rude.

by Andrew, 6/18/2018

Pros: 0

Cons: Don't use them

Wait about an hour to be told you can't open an account even though its for paper trading. The representative was very confusing and not straight to the point. I would never use these guys for live trading. But due to my courses from OnlineTradingAcademy, I'm left with no other choice but to paper trade with them. Currently Active Duty in the military, the representative acted quite disrespectful when I mentioned my net worth. Implying that I shouldn't even think about trading due to my financial state. I find it very un professional that I was turned down when all I want to do is pursue my dream and to learn how to trade properly in a paper trading account. Terrible customer service, long waits, and people who don't care about Military Service Members.

by Kris, 6/7/2018

Pros:

Cons: Thinks twice about opening an account!

June 2018 Constant updates to fix software issues which creates other issues; horribly long customer support waiting time only to be redirected to another number and still no response. The platform has features, BUT THE ONGOING issues outweigh the cool factors! THINK TWICE ABOUT OPENING ANY ACCOUNT WITH TRADESTATION!!!!!!

by JB, 6/6/2018

Pros: among the very few available for retail investors in my country

Cons: their proprietary Easylanguage is horrible

If you have to use a platform to run an algorithm trading strategy as a retail investor, this might just be the only one available.

But the proprietary language is just damn horrible to work with. This is quite likely the worst modern programming language I have encountered. Prone to error and difficult to debug.

by steve, 5/1/2018

Pros: plartform is garbage

Cons: platform is garbage

completely unreliable, do not use unless you constantly want to lose money, completely unreliable and glitchy.
crashes constantly
cannot get in and out of trades to save your life, platform is trash

by BestTrader, 3/23/2018

Pros: Platfrom

Cons:

Good fills, cheap commission, great experience if you know how to use the platform.

by steve, 3/20/2018

Pros: none

Cons: terrible platform

completely unreliable, terrible platform, do yourself a favor and dont use this service. Clunky, slow, interface is terrible, unreliable and crashes constantly for no reason

by Joe, 3/12/2018

Pros: Offers a veterans discount of $0 on commissions

Cons: Poor service, poor attitude, poor support

Thought I would continue to share my experience. Every time I contact my relationship manager, Joel Santeramo, he sends me off to customer support. I finally asked him to tell me exactly what he might be there to help me with. Deafening silence.

As to customer support, as all have attested, atrocious. So far I have 3 emails pending with no responses.

I finally got my account funded. How it takes 10 days for a transfer of cash from one broker to another is beyond me.

With full access, I find that Tradestation actually *does* provide OFX support so you can feed Quicken, Money, etc. It is hidden in the tax documents area. So far, it does not seem to be a complete implementation which might ultimately be the death knell for me. We'll see.

The initial cash transfer should show up in an OFX data download but so far does not. Without complete information you would be left adding some transactions manually that are quietly sitting on their computers. I've been with many other brokers and this is a first on that type of issue.

by TTR, 3/8/2018

Pros: The platform, if it worked, is a great idea.

Cons: No customer service. Don't care about you or your trading success. Platform is pretty but useless. No Quickent support.

The platform is EXTREMELY unstable. The matrix, which is a big selling point, jumps around when you try to enter an order, the screen goes black for several seconds, it freezes, it calls up the format box,...it does EVERYTHING except enter your order. Customer support, I stopped calling. average wait is 35 minutes, often much longer, and they just redo the same thing they had you do last time you called. Have tried several times to get problems escalated. Never happens. I don't believe they have an escalation department. I trade in a room and all TS users report the same problems. I am migrating away and I believe others will as well. Do yourself a favor and stay away. Find a different platform and save yourself endless hours of waiting in customer-No-Service and hundreds of missed trades.

by Antony, 3/2/2018

Pros: cheap

Cons: slow fills, slow in fast markets, Poor service, poor attitude, easylanguage support don't support at all

freezes during high volume. terrible customer service. easylanguage support is a nightmare....worse than built a wardrobe on your own....days to learn to code every shitty little thing in easylanguage ...and they never help you ...after 3 terrible years i'm moving to IB and Multicharts

by Blake, 2/26/2018

Pros: Good Platform

Cons: Phone Call Wait Times Regularly over 30min, Some Customer Support Staff Provides False & Misleading Information, Delay ACH Withdraws and Wire Transfers Without Just Cause, Over Half Support Emails are left Unanswered, Account Modifications and Wire Changes without Customer Consent

I have been with Tradestation for a couple years. Once I started trading actively I encounter how horrible this company is for any type of trader. During any period of the day phone support regularly takes over twenty minutes to answer. I have waited over an hour at times. The trade desk has better response time but are unlikely to help resolve any type of account issues. If you think emailing customer support will be more convenient that is not the case. From my experience half my emails for critical information such as account changes without authorization were ignored. When I did receive a response they failed to address the issue and ask you to contact customer support. Depending on the customer service representative you receive will vary in the information they provide. Tradestation in my experience sent me out a letter confirming an account change I did not authorize. I called them as instructed in the letter, which the customer service representative had no record of sending. Their back office is absolutely sloppy, customer service reps feed incorrect information and false information securities regulations which they are not licensed. One example is one customer support rep and a broker confirmed a wire would go out on a specific day after being delayed five days. Then the next day I follow up to yet another delay where they re processed my Wire without my consent to withhold my funds for an additional day. To make matters worse they claim they will only send wires out during the late afternoon which causes another trading day loss. Avoid this company at all cost.
The years of negative reviews are true. I took the risk because I thought they may have improved but I have experienced first hand to this nightmare company. Their platform is not worth the hassle. Fees are expensive compare to alternatives. Loosing numerous trading days and not being able to withdraw money with the time frame they represent is a hazard one should avoid.

by Soms, 2/18/2018

Pros:

Cons: Account Access

Once you close your account with Tradestation - can not access your account for past statements and tax documents. With other brokers you can access them sometime (some cases upto 7 years).

by Brian, 2/15/2018

Pros: Charting

Cons: No European equities

90% of these reviews are just plain fake news. I'm a professional trader, who has multiple brokers and I think tradestation is the cream of the crop. I've never had a crash. I move funds weekly. I've never had a wire just vanish into thin air. I've had more problems with TD ameritrade and fidelity. But on the flip side if you need hand holding go to TD Ameritrade, they will talk you through the wire process haha

by steven Hall, 2/13/2018

Pros:

Cons: platform is terrible

do not waste your time or money on this platform, go somewhere else. I was trapped into using them due to the school I was in. This platform is so glitchy it is useless. It crashes constantly and they make no attempts to fix their problems.

by Lauri, 2/7/2018

Pros:

Cons:

I have traded with TradeStation for approximately 5 years. I've never had a good customer service experience. Multiple times, they have told me that a change on account #1 will not affect my second account, but every time, it affects my second account. So, today, I cannot access my money in account #2 because of a change on account #1. After 30 minutes on hold to talk to a customer service rep and receiving another customer service rep that did not seem to know the issues, I finally called back to close both accounts. Frustrating!!!

by One Trader, 2/3/2018

Pros:

Cons: Terrible customer service

Waited for weeks to hear about my account application status. Every time I contacted them about the application, they said my documents were flawed but never gave a specific reason that could help me fix the issue.

I resubmitted my documents for multiple times. I sent multiple inquiries to Perry Pingatore (my assigned
TradeStation representative) multiple times but did not receive a response even once.

I am NOT complaining because they did not approve my application. But I am so disappointed that they have never even bothered to let me know the status of my application even now after months past my application. I believe they may have some under-the-table reason not to approve me (e.g. nationality) and they just wanted to keep me waiting until I go away.

I am glad I did not end up working with them of course. A broker that does not response in peace time, just imagine how responsive it will be in an emergency when some thing in the market goes wrong.

by steve, 2/2/2018

Pros:

Cons: garbage

Do not use this platform, it is garbage. it has constant glitches. Anytime there is any data spike it will freeze and crash. You will be trapped in trades and unable to do anything. The charting features are awful, not user friendly and glitchy

by Will, 1/22/2018

Pros:

Cons: always freezes and crashes

no one makes money with tradestation as an active trader, with the best recommended computer system ( I7 quad-core 16 gig ram) and hardwired bandwidth, the system while running only tradestation always locks up and freezes during high volume. terrible customer service. january 2018

by Mel, 8/2/2017

Pros:

Cons:

Don't open account with this broker. Poor service. Go to another broker.

by AD, 7/21/2017

Pros: TradeStation matrix trading is great

Cons: TradeStation crashes all the time,

TradeStation crashes way too much during trading. It's obvious that crashes can cost traders money. I switched computers and even internet services to find out that it is a TradeStation issue. They lied to me. They also take way too long to post your funds when you send your money to populate your account. Time is money and they DO NOT CARE. I am currently transitioning to another platform. TradeStation is awful.

by Randy, 7/18/2017

Pros: Decent platform, Easylanguage is simple to use and useful.

Cons: Horrible customer service, long delays for replies, website full of errors and dead links, difficult to get money out of account.

Biggest complaint is communication, and trying to get money out of the account. I set up ACH shortly after opening account in Nov. 2015, but when needing it on a recent Monday for withdrawal was told I wasn't approved even though I had confirmation from 2015 that everything was OK. Now I'm having trouble actually getting them to return funds and they seem to use every trick in the book to avoid returning customer money. I would highly NOT recommend this broker.

by Docpi, 6/30/2017

Pros: Good range of choices for charts. Wide selection of indicators. Good add on software.

Cons: Options platform weak, seems an afterthought and not even itegrated in main platform. Add ons usually additional cost. Difficult to navigate. Poor videos to learn platforms

Aside from the above, they terminated my account after more than a year and refused to give me a reason.

by John, 5/5/2017

Pros: Notnsure

Cons: Very complicated software, user UNFRIENDLY. hard to navigate

Same as above..going to close account go back to other broker.

by Ishaak Mallic, 3/20/2017

Pros:

Cons: Poor Customers Service, un-authorized deduction of fees from the trading accounts, no clear display of platform and other charges

Its clear Trade Station is loosing its luster. In the event of a dispute and disagreement, the Customer Service response is ambiguous and dodgy. They will never reply via email as not to implicate themselves.

by Lauri, 3/20/2017

Pros: Nice platform with good programming tools

Cons: Terrible Terrible Terrible Customer Service

Don't expect to get anything done quickly and certainly don't expect them to care. Even escalating to a manger does absolutely no good. Horrible!!!

by lylec305, 3/18/2017

Pros: one contract for $1 dollar

Cons: They don't accept recommendations to improve their platform. High margin rates. No DRIP, No auto transfer or widthdraws Hidden platform fees. The basic platform could cost beyond $150 per month.

I would not recommend tradestation.

by tom petit, 3/6/2017

Pros:

Cons:

This not to be used by ANYONE. They are rude,more than half cant speak english or know their job let alone advise you on their platform or rules..dont trade expiration friday with them,,they shut you winning trades off,don not call or advse you that they are , give multiple different excuses for doing so and in the end if you question them they close you down and will not tell you why...These people are the most unethical in trading,use anyone alse. Joe ferio is the worst(and they keep your money)if you want more reasons email me at ha81@aol.com DO NOT USE THEM AT ALL!!!!! They like dumd spanish speaking only clients!!!!!!!!
see more complaints below..stay away from them period the platform is not worth it

by Anonymous, 12/5/2016

Pros:

Cons:

They just terminated my account after several years of trading and they aren't giving any reason. You want to trust them with your money and trading data that they provide you?

by RoughlyRight, 8/24/2016

Pros: I don't know because I terminated my account right after funding!

Cons: Customer service is absolutely the worst. Unless you experience it, you simply won't believe it.

It took 12 days after I submitted my application for my account to be opened. It remains a mystery why opening an account takes such extraordinary effort, further resulting in extensive delay. Also a mystery is the delay in having funds credited to your account. When attempting to fund my account, my bank informed me that they completed the ACH request on the day my account was finally opened. However, it took TradeStation another 7 days to make my funds available. I have a TD Ameritrade account and funds move within 24 hours, which I know is the standard.

But aside from what I stated above, it's the thorough incompetence of customer service coupled with an "I don't know and I don't care" attitude that will keep you up at night. It's the, "that's not my department", "we didn't get your fax. You're going to have to resend it", and "the proper department didn't get your signature card", that will convince you to give it up and run at unparalleled "breakneck" speed to another discount broker. As for me, as soon as my funds cleared I entered an ACH withdrawal, which only took another 11 days to complete. Immediately after I completed an online application at TradeKing and finished in 20 minutes. The application was approved via email literally 1 minute later, and my ACH completed in 3 days.

The point is this; even if the platform is great, what's the sense if there's no confidence in support and whatever support you do get leaves you feeling concerned? What's the sense if customer service has no care that you have no confidence? Finally, I think this statement by a TS rep says it much better than I am able: "Okay, so you know we suck (meaning customer service) but the good news is that once you open your account you'll probably never have to deal with us again." This is only my second ever review I have written, so that should say something. Go to IB or TradeKing and save yourself from what will unquestionably be an upsetting situation.

by Tim, 6/21/2016

Pros:

Cons:

If you intend to use the Trade Station (ST) trading thru the web platform I suggest you look elsewhere. I make most of my trades from work so I have to rely on the web platform to do my trading. TS's web platform is severely lacking. I tried to do a Double diagonal SPX spread trade and was unable to. It was also not allowed on the main platform. The web platform also does not allow you to do a close a spread order. You will have to do each side of the trade separately. Since I was unable to do close a spread order I called the Trading Desk and they confirmed it is not allowed. The indicators on the charting screen take up as much space as the chart. Therefore if you have 2 indicators on the screen they take up more than half of the charting screen. You cannot change the font size or colors on the chart screen. In this day and age I expect more from an online trading platform.

by Stan, 6/7/2016

Pros: Friendliest telephone response ever, seems to have lot of features

Cons: Extremely difficult to setup Platform

I just signed up with 2 accounts. I submitted the application on May 20 and the transfer of my accounts finished June 4th, 16 days to complete. I had open positions and was unable to trades them during that time. So if you do a transfer make sure all of your transaction are taken care of or you could face possible losses or gains. You will spend a lot of hours setting up the different modules as you initially get blank screens. Some of the documentation for the module/screen setups are not up to date, so it may be confusing. Depending on your problem you may have to select from several phone numbers to get a resolution. I have to rely on the web platform, as I am at work during trading hours, and it is very basic. When I add indicators to the chart screen, 2 indicators take up half the screen and you cannot adjust them. Today June 7th, I tried to do a calendar spread trade and I was unable to figure out how to do it with the web platform. During work I can only email them but I was unable to email the department I needed to contact because you can only contact that department them by phone. I tried to contact them by emailing Client Services to assist, but they only emailed me back to call the department, catch 22 situation. I am completely frustrated with their account setup and if I knew I would encounter the problems I have had I would not transfer my accounts. I have spent over 6 hours setting up the platform and I am still confused and will have to spend additional hours to get familiar with the platform and doing trades.

by Chicago Tex, 4/26/2016

Pros: Platform works great, decent fills and commissions

Cons: Transferring funds slow as molasses

It seems most of the negatives about TS are due to the customer support. I never use customer support so I have no complaints in that department. The software works great, is rarely down and the fills have been fine. I day trade the E-Mini every day and am very happy with the brokerage and the platform. It is a bit of a mystery why it takes so long to get funds in and out of the account, but they get it done eventually. Expect over a week to get an account funded or more funded.

by omegaelec, 9/29/2015

Pros:

Cons: Poor customer service, high monthly fees, problems with fund transfers.

I have never used the platform because of technical issues, that did not stop them from charging me $99.00 per month for it. You can put this on hold if you are not trading but it is a hassle to call in and set that up and then call back to start it up again. I was dissatisfied for several reasons so I requested a funds transfer to another brokerage, it was a bad experience, it took me over two weeks and several phone calls to get the funds transferred, various problems including confusion with the account number.

by OptionsTrader1, 4/3/2015

Pros:

Cons:

If you trade options, I would not recommend Tradestation. They close out trades as early as 3:00pm on expiration Friday (usually your potential winning trades first). Also, there customer service is horrible.

The platform is pretty good once you learn how to use it, but if you take longer than their trial offer of discounted or free trading, they will not extend the offer. Also, if you do not use the platform they will still charge you the fees even though you just needed more time to learn how to trade within their environment. The experience is not what I expected based on my research, I will stick with other platforms like TradeKing & TD Ameritrade for now.

by jman56, 2/13/2015

Pros:

Cons:

I just opened my account with TS a week ago, so far it is a great trading platform, but their support is really bad. I don't agree you need to be an experienced trader to use this platform, it's a software interface and while it is complex and has a ton of features, the order bar is sufficient and simple enough that anyone can use it, if you want to use a lot of the features beyond buy and sell, you will have to learn your way around the software no matter how much trading experience you have. Point being, that being an experienced trader and knowing your way around this software, are 2 separate things. The fees may be high for some, but for others that place sizable trades, the fees may be insignificant. I have seen no video help anywhere in this platform, maybe I just have not found it yet... but that's not much help if you cant find it. I had Ameritrade before this and found the TOS platform was just not that user friendly, the functionality just never fit into my way of thinking, I found it far more complicated than tradestation, it's very proprietary and still lives in the mindset of the developer who wrote it. The TDA web interface is separate from TOS, it is real easy but I had to switch screens a lot to switch between accounts and the thing was always slow and locking up, there were times I spent 10 minutes selling positions or could not get quotes or just lost the quote screen. What I realize looking at all these broker reviews, is that they are always based on what the reviewer wants or needs and never matched my criteria. The "Cons" in this review are mostly about fees (which I really don't care about). The steep learning curve I also disagree, anyone that could stand to sit thru their boring videos could use this thing and anyone that feels a need to use any more advanced features is probably a more advanced trader anyway or they probably are not going to even look for these features, nobody is going to use everything in this software. I found the platform is laid out in a very logical way, everything is where I would logically expect it, TOS was not. I have so far, found their support to be so bad, they might as well not offer any support at all which would save people the 20 minute hold on the phone and at least people would know upfront the support is worthless. I have contacted them a couple times and my impression was they just had an attitude, seemed that the objective was to get rid of me. I wanted to get a walk thru of the platform when it first funded (The account rep. had said that I would get a walk thru and could be trading next day) but the help desk guy said all he could do was refer me to their setup guy and schedule an appointment, but the first available appointment was 4 weeks out. then I contacted them about which program folders to back up so I would not lose my configurations and he could not (Or would not) tell me. Later I found there is a backup utility built in, why didn't the help desk guy bother to mention it? I contacted their support group by email and 2 days later got a response that I need to call... I probably wont need much support but if you do then... IDK. But I do love the platform!

by J David Benson, 1/23/2015

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I've been trying to get up and running on the Tradestation Platform, moved funds to their account in December requested a session with someone to help set up the software but did not get that until 5 January. Requested a customizing session but did not get that session with a representative until the 16th of January. I've also called for support twice each time I spent in excess of 30 minutes on hold, they do not have sufficient staff to handle the calls. And both times when I was finally connected they told me that my system was not set up like theirs so they couldn't help me. One fourth of the questions I had during the customizing session were unanswered as there was not enough time and they can only spend one hour for any client!

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