Options trading is gaining popularity among traders, creating a significant demand for trading platforms that cater specifically to options traders. While some platforms provide general insights on potential stocks, others offer personalized tips and analyses based on individual financial goals. This tailored approach makes options trading even more intriguing. Let's explore our top five picks for options trading platforms that every enthusiast should consider in 2024.

Public.com

One of the newest players to the options trading game is Public.com. It has quickly become popular amongst new and intermediate options traders due to it being the cheapest way for traders to trade compared to other platforms. Public has revolutionized options trading by being the first company to actually provide a rebate on every trade. They also provide a ton of educational material and other resources to help new options traders learn the ropes and get up and running. One tool that they have is a strategy builder that takes into account your viewpoint as to where you think the market or a certain equity is heading. Public is a no-brainer for anyone interested in options trading as it literally keeps more money in your pocket. 

Charles Schwab

One of the pioneers in the financial services industry, Charles Schwab, has the expertise and experience to understand how the securities market works, and the same holds true for the Options market. Charles Schwab offers an exceptional options trading platform committed to providing exceptional customer service and required guidance.

Charles Schwab has a variety of knowledge materials for helping new option traders, along with live training and guides. Moreover, after the acquisition of TD Ameritrade, and the famous thinkorswim platform, it allows option traders to experience paper trade before entering the real market. Charles Schwab runs with a clear mindset that focuses on discount brokerage, and it has been doing well in helping its users achieve financial independence and giving them access to suitable tools for gaining financial knowledge. It helps traders access industry-specific options analytics and helps the users decide on appropriate options and strategies to implement to make the trade successful. Since Charles Schwab, supports various markets, it helps users to choose specific options strategy and then suggests the options contract based on their opted strategy. Regarding the fees, Schwab has done a decent job by keeping the fees at $0.65 per contract, which makes the cost to trade options very reasonable for traders.

Tastytrade

Trading is adventurous, but Tastytrade believes it can be fun too. Their website mentions, “Trading can be fun and we take fun seriously”. Tastytrade is one of the most sought-after trading platforms when it comes to options trading as it not only provides the right technical tools required to understand potentially profitable trades but the group of minds that work behind all of this, i.e., the team of experts at Tastytrade are seasoned members who have experienced everything from meme stocks to flash crashes, from tech advances to algorithmic leaps, which have made them a master in Options trading. The primary reason why Tastytrade is an options trader favorite is that its pricing is minimal compared to the technological and educational support that it provides to its users. While the cost of trading options is low compared to most other online brokers, Tastytrade also provides caps on its already competitive rates, which lures higher volume traders. With its fees for options trading, which average $0.50 a contract per side, there are no closing costs. In addition, Tastytrade places a $10 round-trip limit on option commissions, plus a $0.10 clearing charge for each contract. This implies that higher transaction sizes become more cost-effective, particularly when considering deals with many legs.

Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers, famously known as IBKR, is a top choice for professional and institutional traders, providing state-of-the-art trading capabilities while keeping the prices competitive. It lets its users trade options on more than 30 market centers globally and also lets them choose from four options trading permissions to explore choices aligning with their options trading strategies. What makes Interactive Brokers stand out in the crowd of options trading platforms is the wide range of advanced options trading tools that it offers :

• Rollover Options Tool – It helps the user roll over options that will expire to a similar option with a later expiration date.
• OptionTrader - OptionTrader gives the most comprehensive picture of all possible option chains, shows market data for the underlying, and lets the user construct and manage options orders, including combination orders.
• Options Strategy Builder—With its assistance, Users may access established combinations (such as straddles, strangles, etc.) and generate multi-legged combination orders on the fly.
• Probability Lab - It assists in reframing the price and volatility forecast for the underlying asset and, based on that perspective, identifies possibly lucrative options strategies.
• Options Analytics - This tool facilitates the manipulation of vital option pricing parameters, such as time, implied volatility, and price, and allows the influence on premiums to be demonstrated.

Another feature that makes Interactive Broker everyone’s favorite is that it is also a mobile application, so one can manage their trades literally at their fingertips.

While Interactive Brokers offers premium tools, its options commissions are very reasonable, ranging from $0.15 to $0.65 per US options contract.

E*TRADE

E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley is another promising online trading platform for options trading. Its intuitive tools, user-friendly website interface, and continuous expert advice and support make it a popular choice among options traders. Its tools help one in making accurate decisions relating to every trade:

• Risk/Reward Probabilities – Helps understand the risk/reward probabilities of the trade with Snapshot Analysis.
• Customizable Option Chain—This tool helps you customize option chain views by spread strategies, width, strikes, and dollar value.
• Earnings Move Analyzer: This tool helps one view the underlying stock’s price movements and select the strategy accordingly.
• Spectral Analysis – Helps explore an options strategy's “what if” scenarios and understand the related risk metrics.

With so much that the platform provides, the fees are pretty decent. It costs 50 cents per contract when dealing in equity and index options when the user places 30+ stock, ETF, or options trades per quarter and $1.50 per contract for futures options. Moreover, it also provides its users a facility to close short options positions priced at 10 cents or less with no contract fee.

Webull

Webull is a winner for low-cost options trading platforms because it allows users to trade US exchange-listed options for free, and its comprehensive trading and analytical tools accompany it. Webull lets one trade in various categories of options such as ETF options, Equity options, and Index options and gives its users the freedom to explore different markets, industries, and asset classes and capitalize on the ones they find suitable by implementing trading strategies that align to their investment goals and risk tolerance. While most of its features are at par with other trading platforms on our radar, its commission-free trading is the only differentiator and perhaps the most crucial differentiator when considering the traders.

Conclusion

With every passing day, Options trading is becoming more dynamic and appealing to the players in the financial markets. While we have listed our top picks of Options Trading platforms for 2024, and every platform is unique in its ways, the selection of the appropriate trading platform would entirely depend on the individual trader’s level of experience, requirements, and financial goals that will help them to deploy their strategies better and make the most out of the options trading platform. So, while there are many options available, selecting the appropriate platform is still one of the significant decisions to be made by Options traders to ensure success in the market. 

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