Choosing which broker to use when trading options is without doubt one of the single most important decisions you will ever need to make in your trading career. Using a good broker can save you money, increase your profitability, save you time, help you find trading opportunities, and it will generally improve your overall trading experience.
The following is a list of the overall best online brokers that we recommend. If you are looking to sign up with a broker now, then we would advise that you take a look at any of the below online brokers. For advice on choosing an options broker, plus further recommendations in specific categories, please see read on.
| Rank | Broker | Key Benefits | Pricing | Review / Visit |
| 1 |  |
| $9.99 | Read Review Visit Site |
| 2 |  |
| $4.95 | Read Review Visit Site |
| 3 |  |
| $9.99 | Read Review Visit Site |
You'll see from the above table that we provide reviews of the brokers that we recommend. For a list of all our reviews, plus information on exactly how we go about reviewing brokers, please visitthis page. These reviews can help you make a decision about which of our recommendations is the right one for you.
Despite the importance of choosing a broker carefully, many traders sign up with any old broker and simply join the first one they come across or the one that offers the best sign up incentive. Not putting any thought into what broker to use is a big mistake because, this really is a decision that is well worth spending some time on.
If you are lucky enough to know an experienced trader that you trust then asking them which broker they use is a good way to find a decent broker, but that isn't a course of action that is available to everyone. Alternatively, you could try out a range of different brokers, compare them, and decide which one is best for you. However, this would be pretty time consuming.
Best Option Brokers By Category
- For Stock
- For Forex
- For Binary Options
- For OTC
- For Active Traders
- For Auto Trading
- With Best Trading Platforms
About This Section
We have produced this section specifically to help you choose a broker. As well as the list of our top rated online brokers above, we have also produced a number of other lists. Each one of these contains a number of recommended online brokers that are particularly suitable for a specific purpose.
You can see each of the broker categories that we cover linked over to the right. We have also provided some brief details about each category further down this page.
Full Service Brokers vs. Discount Brokers
The first page in our section on the best options brokers is a comparison between the two main types of brokers: full service brokers and discount brokers. The distinction between the two is quite important to understand, as the services offered by the two is substantially different.
In very basic terms, a full service broker will provide clients with advice and guidance in addition to executing orders as instructed while a discount broker will simply carry out orders on behalf on their clients. Both types have their advantages, and we explain more on the following page:Full Service Brokers vs Discount Brokers.
Best BrokersFor Beginner & Small Traders
When you first begin trading, the chances are that you will be starting out with a relatively small amount of capital, and indeed you may be planning to only ever make small trades. Beginners and those trading with a low budget should be looking for fairly specific attributes before signing up with a broker. An appropriate commission structure and low minimums for both the size of your deposits and value of your trades is essential. Any sign up incentives being offered could also be significant too.
If you are a beginner when it comes to options trading we suggest taking a look at what we have found to be the best brokers for people just getting started.
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Best BrokersFor Stock Options
As you probably know, contracts can be based on a variety of different underlying securities which give you many choices. Probably the most commonly traded are stock options; those contracts where the underlying security are stocks in publically listed companies.
It isn't particularly difficult to find brokers that are suitable for trading stock options, but it's still important to choose your broker wisely. If you are planning on trading mostly stock options, then please visit the following page for relevant recommendations. These all do an excellent job when it comes to trading stock options.
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Best BrokersFor Forex Options
Forex options are contracts where the underlying security is foreign currencies. These are also very commonly traded, so finding an broker where you can trade forex options is not too much of a challenge.
However, there are certain brokers that particularly stand out and that we believe are worthy of our recommendation. It's very important to find a forex broker that can meet your needs. For a complete list of these recommended brokers and more details on what you should be looking for when deciding where to sign up, please visit the following page.
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Best BrokersFor Binary Options
Binary options are a unique form of contract that work a little differently to most others (please see our page on Binary Options for more details) and they are ignored by many traders as they often perceived to be a bit more complicated than the more standard type of option.
In fact, the basic principle of binary options is relatively straightforward and trading binary options is becoming increasingly more popular among traders. Not all brokers will deal with binary options, but for a list of recommended brokers that do please visit the following page.
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Best BrokersFor OTC Options
OTC options are those contracts that aren't listed on a public trading exchange but are instead traded over the counter. Those options tend to be highly customized contracts that have complicated terms that include many of the exotic options that exist. Because OTC options are not traded on the public exchanges they are not generally as accessible to the public and are more typically traded between large financial institutions.
Many traders do like to trade OTC options though, in which case it's important to use a broker that is suitable for the purpose. Please visit the following page for recommended brokers in this category.
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Best BrokersFor Active Traders
Traders that use active trading styles, such as the day trading style, typically make a large number of transactions on a daily basis. As such, one of the most important attributes that active traders need to look for when choosing a broker is a commission structure that is very competitive and ideally provides for a discount when making a lot of trades.
However this isn't the only consideration that active traders need to take into account and choosing a broker purely based on the commissions charged is rarely a good idea. For more advice on this, along with recommendations of suitable services, please visit the following page.
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Best BrokersFor Auto Trading
An increasingly popular way to try and profit from options is by using auto trading services which basically involve a trader signing up with an organization that will find opportunities for trading and then automatically place the relevant orders with the trader’s broker. There are a number of services around and although they aren't necessarily the ideal way to trade, they can potentially be profitable.
One of the biggest problems facing traders that wish to use auto trading services is that not all brokers allow it. For a list of the top places that do, please visit the following page.
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Brokers withBest Trading Platforms
The quality of the trading platform is something that many traders overlook when choosing an online broker, but it really is something that is very important for anyone that is trading options. A decent platform should be well designed with a user-friendly interface as brokers that make it easy to place orders will generally enhance your overall trading experience.
This isn't something that should be ignored if you are going to be spending any sustained length of time trading options each day. For a list of recommended brokers that meet these criteria, please visit the following page.
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