tastytrade vs Firstrade options fees (2026)
Firstrade is cheaper per contract ($0.00 vs $1.00). Exercise/assignment fees can't be compared because Firstrade doesn't publish one we could verify. At the smallest balance tier each lists, tastytrade charges 11.0% ($0-$24,999) and Firstrade charges 12.25% ($0-$24,999).
| tastytrade | Firstrade | |
|---|---|---|
| Per-contract commission | $1.00 Source: tastytrade.com, retrieved 2026-10-25 | $0.00 Source: www.firstrade.com, retrieved 2026-10-25 |
| Exercise / assignment fee | $5.00 Source: tastytrade.com, retrieved 2026-10-25 | unverified (not on pricing page) Source: www.firstrade.com, retrieved 2026-10-25 |
| Index option fees | $1.00/contract to open, $0 to close + $0.10 clearing + proprietary fee (SPX $0.60, RUT $0.18, VIX $0.35, NDX $0.25, XSP $0/$0.07) Source: tastytrade.com, retrieved 2026-10-25 | unverified (pricing page states $0/contract for options generally; index not mentioned) Source: www.firstrade.com, retrieved 2026-10-25 |
| Margin rates | $0-$24,999: 11.0% $25,000-$49,999: 10.5% $50,000-$99,999: 10.0% $100,000-$249,999: 9.5% $250,000-$499,999: 9.0% $500,000-$999,999: 8.5% $1M+: 8.0% Source: tastytrade.com, retrieved 2026-10-25 | $0-$24,999: 12.25% $25,000-$49,999: 12.0% $50,000-$99,999: 11.5% $100,000-$249,999: 11.0% $250,000-$499,999: 10.75% $500,000-$999,999: 8.85% $1M+: 8.25% Source: www.firstrade.com, retrieved 2026-10-25 |
Per-contract figures exclude regulatory pass-through fees. Estimate your yearly cost with the calculator. See full pages for tastytrade and Firstrade.