Cheapest Way to Trade Options as a Beginner: Six Brokers' Fees Compared

What's the cheapest way to trade options as a beginner?

The cheapest way for a beginner to trade options is a $0-commission broker for plain stock and ETF options, and Robinhood and Webull both charge no commission and no contract fee on those (per their pricing pages, checked October 2026), leaving only small regulatory pass-throughs. If you want a platform built around options and plan to trade spreads, tastytrade is next cheapest: $1 per contract to open, $0 to close, capped at $10 per leg. Fidelity, Schwab and Interactive Brokers list $0.65 per contract as their standard rate.

Every figure on this page is quoted from the six brokers' own pricing pages and fee schedules rather than first-hand use of their platforms, and the page is not investment advice. Investing involves risk: tastytrade's disclosure says the special risks inherent to options trading may expose investors to potentially significant losses, and Fidelity's says options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all investors, which is the reason to keep early trades small and cheap.

What "commission-free" options still cost

Zero commission is not zero cost, and Robinhood's fee page is the clearest about why. Effective January 10, 2025, it collects a combined $0.04 fee for each options contract traded to cover exchange and OCC charges; a Consolidated Audit Trail fee of $0.0003 per options contract applies to every order; and the FINRA Trading Activity Fee on options sells is $0.00329 per contract as of January 1, 2026. Index options are the exception to "free": Robinhood charges $0.50 per contract, or $0.35 with a Gold subscription. Webull's page says it does not charge commissions on stocks, ETFs and options listed on US exchanges, then adds a $0.50 per contract fee for certain index options and $0.10 per contract on oversized option orders. So the true floor for a one-lot stock option is a few cents of pass-through, not nothing, and the first cost habit is to stay away from index products until you know why they cost more.

Six brokers' options pricing, side by side (checked October 2026)

Robinhood and Webull: the zero-commission floor

Robinhood's options page states "No contract fees or commissions for all stock and ETF options" and notes that other fees, like index options contract fees, may apply; its support page is where the pass-throughs are itemised. It also makes a point beginners miss: depending on your trading level, you can build vertical spreads, calendar spreads, strangles, straddles and more, which means your approval level, not the price list, decides what you can actually trade on day one. Webull's fee schedule leads with 0 commission trades and no deposit minimums and explains that it earns from stock loans, interest and payment for order flow instead. Both pages carry the standard warning, in Robinhood's words that options are risky and aren't suitable for all investors, and in Webull's that options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all investors.

tastytrade: pay to open, close for free, capped per leg

tastytrade's pricing page lists stock and ETF options at $1 per contract to open with a $10 max per leg and $0 per contract to close, with the same $1 / $0 structure on broad-based index options and $0 on stocks, ETFs and fractional shares; its headline is "No games. No subscriptions." The commissions document (last updated July 30, 2026) adds what the headline leaves out: stock options trades incur a clearing fee of $0.10 per contract plus regulatory fees, the Options Regulatory Fee is $0.02 per contract, the FINRA TAF on option sales is $0.00329 per contract (with no FINRA TAF assessed from October 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026), and option exercise or assignment costs $5. Funding by ACH is free; an outgoing domestic wire is $25 and an outgoing ACAT transfer is $75. The structure favours a beginner in one specific way: closing a position costs no commission (exchange, clearing and regulatory fees still apply), so taking a loss or a profit off the table is never discouraged by the fee schedule. tastytrade, Inc. is a member of FINRA, SIPC and NFA. See current pricing at tastytrade, and read our tastytrade vs thinkorswim head-to-head if you are deciding between it and Schwab's platform.

Fidelity, Schwab and Interactive Brokers: what $0.65 buys

Fidelity's commissions page offers $0 commissions for online US stock, ETF and option trades with a $0.65 per contract fee, no minimums to open an account, and one concession that matters for small accounts: buy-to-close orders of $0.65 or less carry no contract fee, so closing a nearly worthless short option is free. Schwab prints $0 online trades plus $0.65 per options contract, no account or trade minimums, and $0 online commission on exercised and assigned options; a broker-assisted options trade adds a $25 service charge. Interactive Brokers runs two plans: IBKR Lite at USD 0.65 per contract, for US residents only and fixed on the first 1,000 US option contracts a month, and IBKR Pro's tiered schedule, which charges USD 0.65 per contract when the premium is USD 0.10 or more, USD 0.50 between USD 0.05 and USD 0.10, USD 0.25 below USD 0.05, and as little as USD 0.15 above 100,001 contracts a month, with a USD 1.00 minimum per order and OCC clearing of 0.025 per contract on top. IBKR's own line is "no added spreads, ticket charges, platform fees, or account minimums". What the $0.65 buys at these three is the rest of the brokerage: Fidelity's and Schwab's full-service accounts and research, and IBKR's professional routing and global markets, none of which a beginner needs for a first trade but all of which matter if the options account becomes the main account.

Habits that keep a beginner's option costs down

• Practise before you pay. Webull's paperTrade page describes a practice mode with multi-leg strategies such as butterflies, condors and spreads on live market data, at no cost; order entry is the part beginners get wrong, and it is free to get wrong there.
• Trade one contract at a time, and skip index options. Index contracts carry $0.50 at Robinhood and Webull and are excluded from tastytrade's $10 per-leg cap.
• Use the free close. tastytrade charges $0 commission to close; Fidelity waives the contract fee on buy-to-close orders of $0.65 or less; Schwab charges $0 online on exercised and assigned options.
• Fund by ACH, not wire. tastytrade's ACH deposits and withdrawals are free against $25 for an outgoing domestic wire.
• Do not buy a subscription to save pennies. Robinhood's Gold price on index contracts ($0.35 against $0.50) only matters at volume, and tastytrade's pitch is literally "No subscriptions."
• Log every fee. A written record of commission, pass-through fees and assignment charges per trade is how you learn your real cost; a guided trading journal does the job (Check price on Amazon).
• Learn pricing before strategy. Natenberg's Option Volatility and Pricing is the standard reference (Check price on Amazon); our Options as a Strategic Investment vs Option Volatility and Pricing comparison helps you pick between the two classics.

Cost is the small risk

Options are the rare product where the fee is a rounding error next to the position. tastytrade warns that the special risks inherent to options trading may expose investors to potentially significant losses, and Schwab that options carry a high level of risk and are not suitable for all investors; the disclosures on tastytrade's, Fidelity's, Schwab's and Webull's pricing pages all point you to the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options document before you trade. Our options trading for beginners guide covers calls, puts and defined-risk spreads, options Greeks explained covers why a cheap contract can still lose quickly, and how to open a brokerage account walks through the approval forms. For the broader broker picture, see our full shortlist.

FAQ

Is options trading really free on Robinhood or Webull?

The commission and the per-contract fee are $0 on stock and ETF options at both, but regulatory pass-throughs remain: Robinhood collects a combined $0.04 per contract plus a $0.0003 CAT fee and the TAF on sells; Webull charges $0.50 per contract on certain index options and $0.10 per contract on oversized orders.

Do I need thousands of dollars to start trading options?

Not to open the account: Fidelity says no minimums to open an account, Schwab says no account or trade minimums, Webull says no deposit minimums and IBKR says no account minimums. What you need is the premium for a bought option or the collateral for a sold one, plus the approval level for the strategy; brokers set those limits as a risk control, not a fee.

Which broker is cheapest for closing a trade early?

tastytrade charges $0 commission to close any stock, ETF or index option (clearing and regulatory fees still apply), and Fidelity charges $0 on buy-to-close orders of $0.65 or less. Everywhere else the closing contract fee equals the opening one.

Why do index options cost more?

Exchanges charge brokers proprietary index-product fees and brokers pass them on: Robinhood's page lists $0.50 per contract ($0.35 with Gold), Webull's lists $0.50 for certain index options, and tastytrade excludes broad-based index options from its $10 per-leg cap.

Does the pattern day trader rule apply to options?

The rule counts round trips in a margin account regardless of product, and it carries an equity threshold; our pattern day trader rule guide explains how to stay under it or sidestep it with a cash account.

Sources

1. Options, Futures, Cryptos Fees & Commissions | tastytrade — tastytrade (checked October 2026)
2. tastytrade Commissions & Fees (PDF) — tastytrade (checked October 2026)
3. Trading fees on Robinhood — Robinhood (checked October 2026)
4. Options Trading | Robinhood — Robinhood (checked October 2026)
5. Webull Fee Schedule — Webull (checked October 2026)
6. Commissions, Margin Rates, and Fees | Fidelity — Fidelity Investments (checked October 2026)
7. Pricing | Charles Schwab — Charles Schwab (checked October 2026)
8. Options Commissions | Interactive Brokers — Interactive Brokers (checked October 2026)