Tastytrade versus Charles Schwab: compare IRA, commissions, investing fees, trading tools, account differences, pros and cons. Which online broker is better?

Which broker-dealer should you choose, Tastytrade or Schwab? Tastytrade (also known as tastyworks) promotes its crypto, options and futures trading, while Schwab offers banking products and investment advice.

Comparison Table

Schwab Pros and Cons

Schwab boasts these advantages:

- Excellent software
- Full-service firm with many products
- 24/7 customer service - Access to foreign markets

Disadvantages include the following:

- Web-based trade bar has no trading functionality
- Robo service has a conflict of interest

Tastytrade Pros and Cons

Tastytrade customers get the following pros:

- Multiple software platforms with graphical trading modes
- Good commission schedule on multi-contract option trades

But Tastytrade has these cons:

- Many widgets are missing on the broker’s platforms
- Limited selection of retirement accounts
- No international trading

First Category: Tradable Assets

Tastytrade provides trading in these investment vehicles:

• Equities
• Futures
• Option contracts
• Options on futures
• Closed-end and exchange-traded funds
• Crypto-currencies

Tastytrade clients can’t trade over-the-counter assets or foreign stocks. But at Schwab, both of these are available. Moreover, the brokerage firm offers mutual funds and bonds, both of which are missing in action at Tastytrade. All of the assets on tasty’s list are available at Schwab as well... except one — crypto-currencies.

Winner: Schwab

Second Category: Computer Platforms

Tastytrade has a website login, a browser platform, and a desktop program. Only the latter two provide actual trading capability. The website is used for account management, and the number of features is small.





The browser system is launched from the website; it offers a trading ticket with four order types and three time-in-force choices. Charting is pretty horrendous with no full-screen mode and only 52 weeks of price history.

Charting improves somewhat on Tastytrade’s desktop platform. Now we have technical indicators (about 100 of them), four graph styles, and several drawing tools. A chart cannot quite be extended the full width of the monitor. A similar order ticket appears on the desktop platform as well.

Moving to Schwab, we get the same three platforms: website, browser, and desktop. However, it’s possible to trade on the broker’s website. There is a trade bar; but strangely, orders cannot be submitted on it.

Schwab’s browser platform delivers very good charting with full-screen graphs and more than 10 display choices. Multiple charts can be displayed in multiple windows, a great feature not available on tasty’s software. Another great feature is advanced orders like contingent orders, also missing at tasty.





Finally, we get Schwab’s desktop platform thinkorswim. It offers more great charting and an advanced order ticket.

Winner: Schwab

Promotions

Charles Schwab: Satisfaction guarantee and $0-fee trades at Charles Schwab.

Tastytrade: Get $250 for each person you refer with this referral link.

Third Category: Mobile Apps

Mobile apps are available at both firms for customers who are on the go. Schwab actually has two of them. Tastytrade has just one, and charting is terrible.





Schwab’s apps by far have better charting tools. Plus, users can access free stock reports in pdf format. To top it off, Schwab’s app has mobile check deposit, free bill pay, and mutual fund trading.





Winner: Schwab

Fourth Category: Options and Futures Trading

Both broker-dealers in this survey offer trading in options, futures, and options on futures. On thinkorswim, Schwab offers 24 pre-installed strategies plus a create-your-own option. Beneath the multi-leg order is a very good profit-loss diagram that makes seeing in graphical form a trade’s potential quite easy.

Futures can be traded on the browser system, and there are some research tools there, too.

Tastytrade clients can trade options and futures on all three of the company’s platforms. We counted 10 pre-installed option strategies. A unique feature tasty offers is graphical-mode trading. Instead of looking over bid and ask prices in a table format, you can look at a bell curve with standard deviation marks showing probabilities of loss and gain.

Winner: Draw

Fifth Category: Day Trading and Swing Trading

Shorting. On tasty’s desktop platform, a stock or ETF that is hard to borrow will have this noted on its profile. But there is no short locate tool in the software. The same is true for Schwab.

Extended Hours. Both Tastytrade and Schwab offer pre-market and extended-hours trading. In both cases, Schwab has lengthier sessions.

Level II Quotes. Only Schwab offers these.

Direct-Access Routing. Schwab’s desktop software offers two routes (ARCA and Nasdaq). Tastytrade offers none.

Routing Fees and Rebates. Not available at either firm.

Margin. Trading with borrowed funds is available at both Schwab and Tastytrade; the latter firm has lower rates: 11% vs 12.575%

Winner: Schwab

Sixth Category: Miscellaneous Services

Dividend Reinvestment Program: Both Schwab and Tastytrade offer dividend reinvesting services.

IRAs: Both brokers offer Individual Retirement Accounts.

Automatic Mutual Fund Investing: Schwab, but not tasty, offers recurring investments into mutual funds.

Winner: Schwab

Finally, Our Recommendations

Stock/ETF Trading: Schwab gets our endorsement. It has much better ETF research materials. Plus, its trading platforms are better.

Beginners: Schwab’s round-the-clock customer service and branch locations make it a prime choice for new traders. Furthermore, its educational materials, including very good educational magazine On Investing, give it the edge over Tastytrade and Tastytrade.

Long-Term Investors and Retirement Savers: Schwab has more IRA types than tasty; plus, it has a solo 401k plan. Moreover, only Schwab offers financial planning services. Easy pick.

Small Accounts: Tastytrade and Schwab both have zero account fees and zero minimums.

Promotions

Charles Schwab: Satisfaction guarantee and $0-fee trades at Charles Schwab.

Tastytrade: Get $250 for each person you refer with this referral link.

Charles Schwab vs Tastytrade Verdict

Tastytrade has a unique style of broking services, but they just don’t measure up to the heavyweight Schwab. However, anyone who wants to easily see what professional traders are currently buying and selling and, perhaps, follow them, will find Tastytrade very valuable. Crypto and options traders should also check out tasty.

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