tastytrade Rating: 
Basics
- Stocks & ETFs: $0
- Options: $1.00 per contract to open, $10 maximum, $0 to close
- Mutual Funds: not available
If you have been thinking about opening a brokerage account with tastytrade, it’s probably because of the many strong points traders often mention about the broker. There are plenty of reasons to look at tastytrade, as it remains one of the more distinctive firms in the industry, especially when it comes to trading technology and its options-focused style.
We have put together this tastytrade review to highlight some of the most interesting aspects of the broker, point out some possible drawbacks, and help you decide whether tastytrade is the right fit for you.
Keep reading to learn more.
Getting Started With tastytrade
Before digging into what makes this broker stand out, it helps to know a little background first.
The team behind tastytrade has been involved in the trading world for a very long time. 40+ years, in fact.
Starting as floor traders at the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Tom Sosnoff and
Scott Sheridan moved through several major stages of their careers over the years
after leaving the exchange.
The two launched the very popular thinkorswim platform in 1999 and built it over the next 10 years before selling it. After exiting that brokerage venture, the team went on to launch tastytrade in 2011. The new broker set out to create a different way for customers to work with the markets, and today’s tools and products still reflect that mission.
Today, tastytrade offers one of the more innovative options-trading experiences available. In addition, the broker offers its own lineup of futures products and works alongside a dedicated education network now known as tastylive.
Account Types
The account types available at tastytrade are similar to what you would expect from a modern broker. You can open an individual cash account, an individual margin account, IRA accounts, and several other account types. Opening a new account is fairly simple, and traders can maintain multiple account types if they want to.
Here is a breakdown of the available account types.
The Works – The Works is an individual margin account that comes with the permissions needed to trade the full range of core tastytrade products. If you want to build advanced options strategies, trade futures, or short stocks, The Works is the account built for that.
We like that tastytrade offers an account specifically built to make active trading more accessible. Applying for The Works is straightforward, and domestic applications are commonly approved within 1 to 3 business days when there are no issues with the information submitted.
Other account types available are:
Individual (Cash and Margin) – The Individual accounts are similar to The Works but with fewer permissions. As with any brokerage, tastytrade makes some decisions about how much risk an investor should be allowed to take based on assets, experience, and account setup.
Retirement Accounts – tastytrade also offers a good selection of retirement accounts. There are Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and SEP IRAs.
Corporate Accounts – Accounts designed for corporations instead of individual investors.
Trust Accounts – Accounts established for a trust.
International Accounts – Accounts created for eligible international customers from supported countries.
Custodial Accounts – Custodial accounts are not part of tastytrade’s current standard account lineup, so traders looking for UGMA/UTMA or Coverdell accounts will need to use a different broker for now.
Funding Options
The funding methods at tastytrade are similar to the choices available at most brokers. You can fund an account by ACH, wire, check, or by using an ACAT transfer.
ACH transfers are started by linking a U.S. bank account to create a connection between your bank and tastytrade. Once the link is in place, transfers can be made fairly quickly and easily. ACH transfers can still take several business days to fully settle, although they remain one of the simplest funding methods for most traders.
Wire transfers are the fastest way to move money into a tastytrade account, although setting one up takes a little more work. You need to arrange the wire with your bank and provide your tastytrade account details.
Check deposits and ACAT transfers usually take longer, with checks requiring a short clearing period and ACAT transfers often taking several business days to complete. The advantage of using an ACAT transfer is that you can move an entire brokerage account, including open positions.
You still cannot fund a tastytrade account through a digital wallet service such as PayPal, although the broker now also supports stablecoin transfers in addition to its standard funding methods.
Available Securities
One reason tastytrade works well for many traders is that the broker offers a solid selection of products. It is also helpful that the available securities can be traded through the same platform family on desktop, web, and mobile.
Here are the available securities:
- U.S. listed stocks
- ETFs
- Options
- Cryptocurrencies
- CME futures (including e-mini and micro contracts)
- Small Exchange (Smalls) futures
There are still some popular products that tastytrade does not support.
Unavailable securities include:
- Mutual funds
- OTCBB stocks (penny/pink sheet stocks)
- Foreign stocks
Permissions
For stocks, ETFs, and their related options, there are no separate product permissions beyond the options approval level that applies to your account. For futures and cryptocurrencies, however, you do need approval from tastytrade before you can trade those markets.
You can enable both from the ‘Trading Preferences’ page. Cryptocurrency availability depends on account eligibility and jurisdiction.
Cryptocurrency Trading
Although we like the fact that tastytrade gives traders access to several well-known cryptocurrencies, there are still a few important details to understand.
First, cryptocurrency trading at tastytrade runs through Zero Hash. Crypto assets are held and custodied by Zero Hash, not by tastytrade itself. Even so, the setup is more flexible than it used to be because customers can now deposit and withdraw crypto holdings to external wallets. Spot crypto trading still does not offer margin or short selling, however.
Another point to remember is that all digital assets are quoted against the U.S. dollar. At this time, you cannot trade one crypto directly against another on the platform.
Here is a list of the available cryptocurrencies at tastytrade:
Investor Resources
Another important part of any broker is the support it gives investors. At
tastytrade, you get access to several kinds of support:
The first thing you will probably notice is the detailed FAQ and help-center setup. There are articles and explanations covering nearly every part of the platform and brokerage, and the information is easy to locate using the built-in search tool.
No matter what kind of information you need, there is a good chance you will find written guidance on it.
If you still cannot find what you need in the help center, you can also reach live support through chat and use the site’s AI-powered tools.
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Follow Feature
Another important resource available to investors is the Follow feature.
The Follow feature is available through the trading platform and can be opened by selecting
‘follow’. You will be asked to accept a disclosure stating that the ideas shown in the feature are
for educational purposes only, and you must agree before continuing.
In simple terms, tastytrade has a lineup of in-house traders whose activity can be viewed through this tool,
including trades made by some of the best-known names associated with the brand. The Follow feature works like a trade feed that streams positions as they are opened and closed. The stream shows important details about each trade, including strike price, cost, probability of profit, and the reasoning behind the move.
It is also possible to follow specific traders if you find someone whose style lines up well with your own. Some are more aggressive than others, and there is also an account-size indicator showing the type of capital each trader is working with.
tastylive
In addition to the Follow feature, there is also a live video feed throughout each
trading day. That feed now comes from tastylive, which is the affiliated education and market-discussion network connected to the broker. Industry professionals, along with featured traders, appear regularly, and many of the discussions are genuinely useful.
Trading Platforms & Technology
Probably the most popular part of tastytrade is its trading software. You can use the browser-based interface, the mobile app, or the desktop platform to place trades in the available products.
The desktop platform is lightweight and fast, which helps make it one of the more responsive systems in the industry. There is more to tastytrade’s platform than speed, however. The software also has a lot of smart analysis tools that make it easy to build strategies.
The Curve
There is a curve analyzer that lets you visualize the profit-and-loss profile of any trade you want to enter. No complex math is required to get useful risk and reward information on the fly. The Curve also displays important data points such as expected move, probability metrics, and more.
Intuitive Order Control
Another useful part of the trading software is the built-in order control. By simply right-clicking an open position, it is possible to roll an option contract to a later expiration and set a closing bracket order based on a percentage gain or loss.
Charting
One area where tastytrade still receives mixed feedback is charting. For basic charting, the desktop, mobile, and browser-based platforms all perform well. However, traders looking for a huge library of outside indicators or deeply specialized chart customization may still want more.
It should be mentioned that charts at tastytrade have improved a lot over the past few years, although there is still room for more development.
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Fees and Commissions
The fee schedule at tastytrade is another part of the broker that deserves a close look.
In some areas, tastytrade is cheaper than many rivals. In others, the pricing depends more on what you trade. The broker clearly rewards larger options positions, and that shows up in the way commissions are structured.
Here is a listing of tastytrade fees and commissions:
The deepest discounts show up in stocks, ETFs, and stock or ETF options. There are zero commissions on stocks and ETFs, and stock and ETF options only carry a commission when opening a trade.
Also worth noting is that stock and ETF options have a $10 cap per leg. So, if you wanted to open a 100-lot options position, you would still only pay a $10 opening commission on that leg. Futures and options on futures follow a different pricing schedule and charge on both the opening and closing side.
tastytrade Pros and Cons
As with all things in life, tastytrade has features and products that can be viewed in both a positive and negative light. Here is our opinion about some of the broker’s strengths and weakness.
tastytrade Pros
- Unique approach to options trading
- Industry-leading commission schedule for options
- In-house futures products (Smalls)
- Plentiful investor resources
- Actionable investment ‘inspiration’
tastytrade Cons
- No pink sheets
- No foreign exchange-listed stocks
- Limited cryptocurrency trading experience
- Charting still has some limitations for advanced users
Summary of Our tastytrade Review
There are many reasons to choose tastytrade as your broker. Especially if you trade options and
appreciate the platform’s intuitive approach.
The Follow feature and live education put you in direct contact with the people and ideas behind the
brokerage, and the low commissions and fees also make trading at tastytrade more affordable than
at many other brokers.
You can also trade many securities from one platform family.
You would probably want to avoid tastytrade if international stocks and penny stocks are part of your investing process. If advanced charting is essential to your strategy, the platform’s chart limitations could also be a reason to look elsewhere.
All in all, there are clearly more pros than cons, and it makes sense to keep tastytrade
on your radar if it is not there already.
Updated on 4/14/2026.
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