Both accounts have the same pricing for futures options at $1.50. TS SELECT has a $2,000 account minimum but isn’t subject to the same surcharges TS GO is to use TradeStation’s desktop platform. If you use the TradeStation desktop interface on the TS GO plan, you can expect to pay a $10 fee for each equity and option trade. There is also a $1.40 surcharge for futures trades per contract. The desktop version has all of TradeStation’s investment tools. So costs can run up for individuals on the TS GO plan.įor its part, thinkorswim only has one price model with the same zero-commission stock and ETF rule.

Options cost $0.65 per contract, while futures can cost up to $5 per trade. Unlike TradeStation, there is no account fee. TradeStation users may be subject to an annual $50 inactivity fee, although this can be avoided if you maintain the minimum activity.

It’s important to note that thinkorswim has foreign currency and exchange, or forex, whereas TradeStation does not thinkorswim bases its forex trades on the bid/ask spread between countries, and foreign stock trading comes with a $6.95 trading fee. Their highest margin rates are comparable. TradeStation’s vary between 3.50% and 9.50% the more you leverage, the lower the interest rate. By contrast, thinkorswim’s range from 7.50% to 9.50%. Lower rates are offered after $500k, though you have to may a call to learn them. TradeStation lets investors trade in most mainstream financial products, like equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options, futures and mutual funds. In addition to these typical offers, you can also choose to invest in futures, cryptocurrency and initial public offerings (IPOs). Thinkorswim also offers the same standard range of financial products but also foreign exchange. It does not currently support cryptocurrency trading, though.

When it comes to accessing these services, you have the same three options for TradeStation and thinkorswim: desktop, web and mobile.

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