Which broker has the lowest options fees?

It depends on how you trade. On stock and ETF options, Firstrade, Robinhood, Webull and Moomoo charge $0 per contract. Among brokers that do charge, TradeZero ($0.42, capped at $20 per order) is cheapest on small and mid-size orders, and tastytrade's $10-per-leg cap with $0 to close wins on large orders. At very high monthly volume, Interactive Brokers' tiered pricing falls to $0.15. Clearing and regulatory fees apply at all of them.

What cost is most commonly missed in options trading?

Slippage and assignment-related costs are often underestimated and can materially reduce net performance.

How often do option fee schedules change?

They can change periodically. Review official schedules quarterly and after major broker policy announcements.

What is Ticket Charge?

A fixed fee per trade order, regardless of size or number of contracts. Can range from $0–$1+ per ticket.

What is Per-Contract Fee?

A variable fee charged per options contract (100 shares = 1 contract), typically $0.05–$0.75 per contract.

What is Exchange Fee?

Fees charged by the options exchange (CBOE, NYSE, etc.) for each contract traded. Typically passed through to you by brokers.

What is Assignment Fee?

A fee charged when your short call or put is exercised or assigned, forcing you to buy or sell shares.

The difference between your expected fill price and actual price, caused by market movement or wide spreads. A silent cost that reduces profits.

What is Volume Discount?

A lower per-contract or ticket fee available to high-volume traders. Negotiate these based on your expected monthly volume.

Cheapest Options Brokers 2026: Per-Contract Fees Compared

Which Broker Fits How You Trade Options

The cheapest broker depends on your leg count, position size and how often you trade. These picks come from the published fee schedules in the table above.

Multi-leg spreads & condors tastytrade

$10-per-leg cap and $0 to close. A 20-lot iron condor costs $40 round trip vs. $104 at $0.65/contract.

tastytrade review →

High monthly volume Interactive Brokers

Tiered pricing lowers the per-contract rate as monthly volume rises, with direct exchange routing for tighter fills.

Interactive Brokers review →

Automated spread strategies TradeStation

Multi-leg orders cost $0.40/contract at the entry tier ($0.80 single-leg), with EasyLanguage for scripting strategies. Assignment is $14.95.

TradeStation review →

Large orders and covered calls TradeZero

$0.42/contract, capped at $20 per order, plus zero commission on the stock leg of covered calls and collars.

TradeZero review →

Lowest all-in fees Firstrade

$0 per contract and $0 for exercise and assignment. Robinhood, Webull and Moomoo are also $0 per contract on stock options. The trade-off is less control over fills.

See in comparison table ↑

Best platform at standard pricing Charles Schwab

$0.65/contract with no exercise or assignment fees, and the thinkorswim platform included.

Schwab review →

What a Trade Actually Costs at Each Fee Structure

Round-trip commissions (open and close) for common strategies. The lowest non-zero cost in each row is highlighted.

Trade (round trip)	$0.65/contractSchwab, Fidelity, E*TRADE, IBKR Pro	$0.50/contractE*TRADE, 30+ trades/quarter	$1 open, $0 close, $10/leg captastytrade	$0.42/contract, $20/order capTradeZero	$0/contractFirstrade, Robinhood, Webull, Moomoo
1-lot vertical spread	$2.60	$2.00	$2.00	$1.68	$0
10-lot long call	$13.00	$10.00	$10.00	$8.40	$0
10-lot vertical spread	$26.00	$20.00	$20.00	$16.80	$0
10-lot iron condor	$52.00	$40.00	$40.00	$33.60	$0
20-lot iron condor	$104.00	$80.00	$40.00	$40.00	$0

Stock and ETF options only; index options cost extra at most brokers, including the $0 ones. Excludes clearing, exchange and regulatory fees, which apply at every broker (tastytrade adds $0.10/contract clearing on each trade). TradeStation ($0.80 single-leg, $0.40 multi-leg at the entry tier) and IBKR’s lower volume tiers are in the table above.

Estimate your monthly commissions

Legs per trade Contracts per leg Round trips per month

Fee structure	Per trade	Per month	Per year

How fee sensitivity changes by strategy

Single-leg calls and puts: the least fee-sensitive structure. At 1–5 lots, the gap between $0.50 and $0.65 per contract is $0.30–$1.50 per round trip. The bid-ask spread usually costs more than the commission.
Vertical spreads: a 10-lot costs $26 round trip at $0.65 vs. $20 at $0.50. At 4 trades a week, that $6 gap is about $1,250 a year. Debit spreads feel it most because the premium involved is smaller.
Iron condors and butterflies: the most expensive standard structures per trade. A 10-lot is $52 at $0.65 vs. $40 with tastytrade's cap, which is $1,440 a year at 10 condors a month. The cap matters more as position size grows.
Calendars and diagonals: some platforms can't take different expirations as one order, so each leg is entered separately and can carry its own ticket charge.
0DTE scalping: 5 round trips a day on 5-lot single options at $0.65 is $32.50 a day, or about $8,100 over 250 trading days. $0-commission platforms remove that fee, but worse fills on fast-moving contracts can cost more than the commission saved.
Rolling at 21 DTE: managing positions early adds roughly 30–40% more transactions per year. For a 10-lot condor at $0.65, about 8 extra round trips a year per position slot adds around $416 in commissions.

The Four Layers of an Options Trade's Cost

$0 – $1.00

Per-contract fee

The advertised rate, charged on every contract (100 shares) you open and, at most brokers, close.

$0 – $6.95

Ticket charge

A flat fee per order, whatever its size. It hits small-lot traders hardest: $1 on a 1-lot trade roughly doubles its cost.

~$0.02 – $0.17

Exchange & clearing fees

Charged per contract by the exchange (CBOE, NYSE American, PHLX, BOX, MIAX) and the OCC. Nearly every broker passes these through.

$0 – $35

Assignment & exercise

A per-event fee when a short option is assigned or you exercise a long one. It's rare, but one assignment can outweigh months of commissions.

Costs the Headline Rate Doesn't Show

Pass-through fees. "$0 commission" rarely means $0. Exchange, OCC and regulatory fees still appear as separate lines on your trade confirmation.
Assignment risk. Build expected assignments into your costs. Selling 50 short puts a month with a 2% assignment rate and a $10 fee adds about $120 a year.
Leg limits. Brokers that cap orders at 4 legs force larger structures into separate orders. Each one carries a fresh ticket charge and the risk of a partial fill.
Fill quality. A fill $0.05 worse on a 10-lot costs $50, more than the stated commission at most brokers. Brokers paid for order flow (PFOF) and brokers that route directly to exchanges trade off commission against fill quality.
Wide spreads on illiquid contracts. Away from SPX, SPY, QQQ and the most liquid single stocks, a bid-ask spread of $0.15–$0.25 outweighs any per-contract fee.
Schedule changes. Brokers change fees with little notice. Compare a few recent confirmations with the published schedule every quarter.

How To Negotiate a Lower Rate

Many brokers will lower rates for traders with steady volume. Below about 50 contracts a month, a major broker rarely will.

Build a 90-day volume profile. Include total contracts, the split between single-leg and multi-leg trades, average size and total commissions paid.
Bring written competing rates. A published rate sheet from another broker carries more weight than a verbal claim. Some brokers will match it before you transfer anything.
Negotiate the right fees. Per-contract and ticket fees are negotiable. Exchange, OCC, SEC Section 31 and FINRA fees are pass-throughs. Assignment fees are sometimes waived to keep a client.
Pilot before you move everything. Trade under the new rate for 30–60 days and check it on real confirmations. Get the rate in writing first.
Work out the payback. ACAT transfers take 3–7 business days and can cost $75–$150. Divide your yearly savings by the switching cost. For many active traders, the switch pays for itself in 3–6 months.
Revisit every year. Also revisit after your volume changes by 50% or more. Brokers rarely lower your rate unless you ask.

How We Compared

Rates come from each broker’s official fee schedule, checked September 25, 2026 and summarized in the comparison table. Cost examples assume the same price on every leg and exclude exchange, clearing and regulatory fees, bid-ask spread and slippage. Brokers marked “Special Offer” are AInvest partners, and AInvest may be compensated when you open an account through this page. Fee schedules change, so confirm current pricing with the broker before trading.

Cheapest Options Brokers: Per-Contract Fees Compared