Tastytrade Rating: 
Basics
- Stocks & ETFs: $0
- Options: $1.00 per contract to open, $10 maximum, $0 to close
- Mutual Funds: not available
Overview of Tastytrade
If you’re thinking about opening a brokerage account with Tastytrade, it’s likely because you’ve heard good things about the company. There are many reasons traders consider Tastytrade, as it stands out from other brokers, especially for its technology and its options trading approach.
This Tastytrade review highlights what stands out about the broker, points out some possible drawbacks, and helps you decide if Tastytrade fits your needs.
Keep reading to learn more.
Getting Started With Tastytrade
Before we go into what makes this broker different, it’s helpful to know a little background.
The people who started Tastytrade have been in the investment business for over 40 years.
They began as floor traders at the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Tom Sosnoff and Scott Sheridan moved through several important phases in their careers after the exchange.
They started the thinkorswim trading platform in 1999, developed it for 10 years, and then sold it. After selling their first brokerage, they launched Tastytrade in 2011. With the new broker, they wanted to create a new way for customers to interact with markets. The tools and products available today show that goal.
Today, Tastytrade delivers one of the most innovative options trading experiences. The broker has also launched its own futures products and runs an educational network called tastytrade.
Account Types
Tastytrade’s account types are like what you find at other brokers. You can open an individual cash account, an individual margin account, IRA accounts, and a few more. Setting up an account is straightforward, and you can open more than one if you want.
Here’s a summary of the account types available.
The Works – This is an individual margin account with permissions to trade all Tastytrade products. You can create advanced options strategies, trade futures, or short stocks with The Works.
We like that Tastytrade offers an account made for easy trading. Applying for The Works is fast, usually taking under 5 minutes, and you’ll get a response in a day or two.
Other available account types:
Individual (Cash and Margin) – These accounts are similar to The Works but have fewer permissions. Like other brokers, Tastytrade decides your risk level based on your assets and experience.
Retirement Accounts – Tastytrade also offers several retirement accounts: Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and SEP IRA.
Corporate Accounts – For corporations, not individuals.
Trust Accounts – For trusts.
International Accounts – For customers outside the U.S. (except Canada)
Custodial Accounts – Tastytrade is working on adding custodial accounts. UGMA/UTMA and Coverdell accounts will be available soon.
Funding Options
Tastytrade’s funding methods are similar to most brokers. You can fund your account by ACH, wire, check, or ACAT transfer.
ACH transfers connect a U.S. bank account to Tastytrade. Once set up, you can move money easily. It can take up to 5 business days for funds to show up, but if you have at least $2,000 in your account, the broker gives you instant trading funds.
Wire transfers are the fastest way to fund, but they require you to set up the transfer with your bank and give your Tastytrade details.
Check deposits and ACAT transfers take longer. Checks clear in about 3 days, and ACAT transfers can take up to 10 days. The benefit of an ACAT is you can transfer your whole brokerage account, including positions.
Right now, you can’t fund a Tastytrade account with digital wallets like PayPal, but this might change in the future.
Available Securities
Tastytrade offers a good list of securities for traders. All of them can be traded on the same platform or app.
Here are the available securities:
- U.S. listed stocks
- ETFs
- Options
- Cryptocurrencies
- CME futures (e-mini and micro)
- Small Exchange (Smalls) futures
Some popular securities are not available at Tastytrade.
Unavailable securities include:
- Mutual funds
- OTCBB stocks (penny/pink sheet stocks)
- Foreign stocks
Permissions
No special permissions are needed for stocks, ETFs, and their options (besides your options level). But for futures and cryptocurrencies, you need permission from Tastytrade first.
You can turn on both from the ‘Trading Preferences’ page. Crypto trading isn’t allowed if you’re in India, New York, or Hawaii.
Cryptocurrency Trading
Tastytrade gives access to some popular cryptocurrencies, but there are some things to know.
There is no crypto wallet function at Tastytrade. When you’re allowed to trade crypto, your account is set up at Zero Hash LLC. This means you can only open long positions and close them. No crypto derivatives, and you can’t short.
All digital assets are priced in dollars. You can’t trade crypto against other crypto.
Here is a list of the available cryptocurrencies at Tastytrade:
Investor Resources
Support for investors is important at any broker. At Tastytrade, you have access to different types of help:
First, there is a deep FAQ and help section. You’ll find articles and explanations on almost every part of the platform. Everything can be searched using the built-in tool.
No matter what you’re looking for, you’ll probably find something on it.
If you can’t find what you need, you can use live help through the chat and AI assistant tool. This tool is at the bottom-right of every page and gives access to all help material.
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Follow Feature
Another important resource available to investors is the Follow feature.
The Follow feature can be found on the trading platform by selecting ‘follow’. You’ll need to accept a note saying the ideas are for educational use only and agree to continue.
Tastytrade has a team of in-house traders, including the company’s owners. The Follow feature works like a trade feed that shows real-time trades as they’re opened and closed. You see details for each position, like the strike price, cost, chance of profit, and the reasons behind each trade.
You can also follow individual traders if you like how they trade. Some take more risks than others, and there’s an account size feature to show how much capital each trader uses.
TASTYTRADE
Besides the Follow feature, there’s a live video feed every trading day. This comes from TASTYTRADE, which is the broker’s educational and discussion platform. Experts and featured traders appear regularly, and the topics are very educational.
Trading Platforms & Technology
One of the most popular things about Tastytrade is its trading platforms. You can use the browser platform, the mobile app, or the desktop platform to trade all available securities.
The desktop platform is lightweight and fast, making it very responsive. The platform also has smart analysis tools that help traders build strategies easily.
The Curve
There is a curve analyzer that lets you see the profit or loss for any trade you want to make. You don’t need to do any hard math to see risk and reward info right away. The Curve also shows useful numbers like the expected market move, chance of profit, and more.
Intuitive Order Control
Another helpful part of the trading software is the easy order control. By right-clicking on an open position, you can roll an option to a later date or set a closing order based on a certain percent gain or loss.
Charting
One area where Tastytrade isn’t as strong is charting. For basic charts, the desktop, mobile, and web platforms are fine. But there aren’t many third-party indicators, and there are some issues if you use certain timeframes or indicators.
Charts in Tastytrade have improved a lot recently, but there is still work to do.
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Open Tastytrade Account
Fees and Commissions
Tastytrade’s fees are another thing to note.
In some cases, Tastytrade’s fees are lower than other brokers. In other cases, not so much. The broker gives bigger discounts for larger orders, which you can see in how they set their pricing.
Here is a listing of Tastytrade fees and commissions:
The biggest savings are for options, stocks, and ETFs. There are no commissions on stocks and ETFs. You only pay to open an option contract for stocks, ETFs, or futures.
Another helpful feature is that options for stocks and ETFs have a $10 cap per leg. So, if you open a 100-contract options position, you only pay a $10 commission. This is great for people who trade a lot of contracts.
Tastytrade Pros and Cons
Like anything, Tastytrade has good and bad points. Here’s what stands out to us about the broker’s strengths and weaknesses.
Tastytrade Pros
- Unique approach to options trading
- Industry-leading commission schedule for options
- In-house futures products (Smalls)
- Plenty of investor resources
- Actionable investment ideas
Tastytrade Cons
- No pink sheets
- No foreign exchange-listed stocks
- Limited crypto trading experience
- Charting lacks some important features
Summary of Our Tastytrade Review
There are many reasons to choose Tastytrade as your broker. Especially if you trade options and
like the easy-to-use platform.
The Follow feature and live education connect you with the team behind the broker. The low commissions and fees also make trading at Tastytrade cheaper than many other brokers.
You can also trade many types of securities from one platform.
You’d want to avoid Tastytrade if you want to trade international or penny stocks. If you rely on advanced charting, the simple charts are another reason to look elsewhere.
Overall, there are more pros than cons, and it makes sense to give Tastytrade a look if you haven’t already.
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Open Tastytrade Account
Updated on 7/20/2025.
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