Best Brokers

asset ranking · Primary query: best brokers for futures trading

Best Brokers for Futures TradingUpdated August 2026 · 12 brokers, every figure sourced

Written by
Juan Manuel Gonzalez
Published
Data verified

Quick verdict

Futures is the clearest dividing line in our set: six of the twelve brokers publish a schedule and six do not offer it at all. Among those that do, the published commission runs from $0.85 a contract at Interactive Brokers to $2.25 at Charles Schwab, with Webull at $1.00, tastytrade at $1.25 on options on futures, and E*TRADE at $1.50. Every one of those figures excludes exchange and NFA fees, which are charged on top and are not set by the broker.

The ranking

Safety and regulation 30% · Fees and total cost 30% · Investment selection 25% · Account types and features 15% · Eligibility: Publishes a futures schedule

Verified August 28, 2026

Sub-scores are integers, so the bars carry more information than the order does.

  • Safety and regulation
  • Fees and total cost
  • Investment selection
  • Account types and features

Showing 6 of 6 brokers, sorted by editorial rank.

  1. Rank 1 of 6

    Interactive Brokers

    CRD 36418 · SIPC member

    Lowest per-contract commission

    9.1

    Strong

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost9
    • Investment selection10
    • Account types and features8
    Account minimum
    $0No account minimums
    Stock / ETF
    IBKR Lite $0; IBKR Pro from $0.0035/share (tiered) or $0.005/share (fixed)Pro minimum $0.35 (tiered) or $1.00 (fixed) per order, capped at 1% of trade value
    Options / contract
    $0.65 per contractIBKR Lite, first 1,000 US contracts a month. IBKR Pro tiered: $0.25 under $0.05 premium, $0.50 under $0.10, $0.65 above. Minimum $1.00 per order either way
    Account types
    8/12
    Visit Interactive BrokersFull review →

  2. Rank 2 of 6

    Charles Schwab

    CRD 5393 · SIPC member

    8.7

    Strong

    • Safety and regulation9
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection9
    • Account types and features9
    Account minimum
    $0$0 account minimum, $0 opening and maintenance
    Stock / ETF
    $0Online listed stocks and ETFs
    Options / contract
    $0.65
    Account types
    10/12
    Visit Charles SchwabFull review →

  3. Rank 3 of 6

    E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

    CRD 149777 · SIPC member

    8.2

    Solid

    • Safety and regulation8
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection8
    • Account types and features9
    Account minimum
    Not verified
    Stock / ETF
    $0Stocks, options base, mutual funds and ETFs
    Options / contract
    $0.65$0.50 with 30+ trades per quarter
    Account types
    10/12
    Visit E*TRADE from Morgan StanleyFull review →

  4. Rank 4 of 6

    tastytrade

    CRD 277027 · SIPC member

    7.5

    Solid

    • Safety and regulation8
    • Fees and total cost8
    • Investment selection7
    • Account types and features6
    Account minimum
    Not verified
    Stock / ETF
    $0Opening and closing
    Options / contract
    $1.00 to open, $0 to closeEquity options capped at $10 per leg. Index options $1 to open, $0 to close
    Account types
    7/12
    Visit tastytradeFull review →

  5. Rank 5 of 6

    Webull

    CRD 289063 · SIPC member

    7.1

    Mixed

    • Safety and regulation7
    • Fees and total cost9
    • Investment selection6
    • Account types and features5
    Account minimum
    $0No deposit minimum stated in the fee schedule
    Stock / ETF
    $0US-listed securities
    Options / contract
    $0Standard contracts. $0.50 on certain index options, $0.10 on oversized option orders
    Account types
    5/12
    Visit WebullFull review →

  6. Rank 6 of 6

    TradeStation

    CRD 39473 · SIPC member

    Cheapest micro contracts

    6.9

    Mixed

    • Safety and regulation8
    • Fees and total cost6
    • Investment selection7
    • Account types and features6
    Account minimum
    $2,000Stated as the minimum to open and maintain a margin position; no cash-account opening minimum published
    Stock / ETF
    $0 per shareDirect routing adds $0.0032–$0.0048 per share by volume tier
    Options / contract
    $0.50–$0.80 per contract per sideSingle-leg, by volume tier. Multi-leg $0.25–$0.40 per contract per side
    Account types
    6/12
    Visit TradeStationFull review →

Positions are computed from published sub-scores at build time. Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab, E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley lead; their unrounded totals are 9.10, 8.70, 8.15.

Why these weights

Selection rises to 25% because futures availability and the breadth of contracts offered is the question, and cost stays at 30% because per-contract commissions still differ by more than twofold.

Winners by category

  • Lowest per-contract commission

    Interactive Brokers

    $0.85 a contract up to 1,000 a month, falling to $0.25 above 20,000.

  • Cheapest micro contracts

    TradeStation

    $0.25 to $0.50 per side on micros, the lowest published micro rate in our set.

The commission is the smaller half of the cost

Every futures schedule here is quoted before exchange fees, clearing fees and the NFA assessment, all of which are charged on top and none of which the broker sets. On a micro contract those pass-through costs can exceed the broker's own commission, which makes a comparison of headline commissions alone misleading in exactly the way a stock commission comparison is not.

Ask any broker for an all-in cost per contract on the specific product you intend to trade, rather than the commission. The difference between firms on the commission line is smaller than it looks once the rest is added.

Half of the market does not offer futures at all

Fidelity, Vanguard, Merrill Edge, Robinhood, Public and eToro publish no futures schedule among the firms we score. For Vanguard and Merrill that reflects a long-term investing focus; for the app-first platforms it reflects a narrower product set generally.

If futures matter to you, this is a shorter shortlist than any commission table suggests, and the choice is made before price enters it.

Every broker in this ranking, in short

The case for and against each firm in a paragraph, with the figures that drove its score. Each links to the full review, where every number carries its source and the date it was read.

1.Interactive Brokers

9.1/10

INTERACTIVE BROKERS LLC · CRD 36418 · SIPC member

The widest published market access in our set, with a two-tier commission model and no account minimum.

Stocks and ETFs
IBKR Lite $0; IBKR Pro from $0.0035/share (tiered) or $0.005/share (fixed)
Options, per contract
$0.65 per contract
To transfer out
$0
Account types
8 published

Against it: IBKR Lite is restricted to US residents and to individual, joint, IRA and certain trust accounts

Read the full Interactive Brokers review

2.Charles Schwab

8.7/10

CHARLES SCHWAB & CO., INC. · CRD 5393 · SIPC member

A long-established US brokerage with $0 listed equity commissions and no account or trade minimums.

Stocks and ETFs
$0
Options, per contract
$0.65
To transfer out
$50 full, $0 partial
Account types
10 published

Against it: $50 to transfer a full account out, against $0 at Fidelity

Read the full Charles Schwab review

3.E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

8.2/10

MORGAN STANLEY · CRD 149777 · SIPC member

A zero-commission equity schedule inside Morgan Stanley, with futures, bonds and crypto on the same statement.

Stocks and ETFs
$0
Options, per contract
$0.65
Account types
10 published

Against it: $1.50 per futures contract is the highest futures rate in our set

Read the full E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley review

4.tastytrade

7.5/10

TASTYTRADE, INC. · CRD 277027 · SIPC member

An options-first schedule: $1 to open, nothing to close, capped at $10 per leg.

Stocks and ETFs
$0
Options, per contract
$1.00 to open, $0 to close
To transfer out
$75
Account types
7 published

Against it: $1.00 to open a single equity option contract is expensive relative to per-contract pricing at the cheapest firms

Read the full tastytrade review

5.Webull

7.1/10

WEBULL FINANCIAL LLC · CRD 289063 · SIPC member

Zero commissions on stocks, ETFs and standard options, with a $75 charge to leave.

Stocks and ETFs
$0
Options, per contract
$0
To transfer out
$75
Account types
5 published

Against it: $75 per outgoing stock transfer — second only to Vanguard's $100 among the exit charges we recorded

Read the full Webull review

6.TradeStation

6.9/10

TRADESTATION SECURITIES, INC. · CRD 39473 · SIPC member

Volume-tiered options and futures pricing, with a $10 monthly inactivity fee if you go quiet.

Stocks and ETFs
$0 per share
Options, per contract
$0.50–$0.80 per contract per side
To transfer out
$125
Account types
6 published

Against it: $10 monthly inactivity fee unless the account meets minimum activity

Read the full TradeStation review

Every sub-score and why

Each integer below has a written reason. If you disagree with a weight, the sub-scores let you recompute the ranking yourself — that is the point of publishing them.

Interactive Brokers9 / 9 / 10 / 89.1/10Strong
Safety and regulation9/10 × 30% = 2.7
Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-47257), FINRA member, SIPC member, and part of a US-listed group. No headline retail enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.
Fees and total cost9/10 × 30% = 2.7
IBKR Lite is $0 on US listed equities for US residents. IBKR Pro tiered starts at $0.0035 per share with a $0.35 order minimum and a 1% of trade value cap, which is the cheapest published schedule in our set for large orders. Small Pro orders hit the per-order minimum, so it is not universally cheapest.
Investment selection10/10 × 25% = 2.5
The only firm in our set with every asset class we track published on one schedule, including futures, spot currencies, bonds, mutual funds, crypto and non-US listings across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Account types and features8/10 × 15% = 1.2
Taxable, joint, IRA and trust accounts are all named in the published IBKR Lite eligibility terms. No HSA or solo 401(k) identified.

Total 9.1/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Interactive Brokers review, with every fee and source
Charles Schwab9 / 8 / 9 / 98.7/10Strong
Safety and regulation9/10 × 30% = 2.7
Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-16514) with one of the lowest CRD numbers in our set, indicating long registration history. SIPC member. No headline retail enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.
Fees and total cost8/10 × 30% = 2.4
$0 listed equity and ETF commissions, $0.65 per options contract, $0 account minimum and $0 opening and maintenance fees. Marked down from 9 on 30 August 2026 after we read the April 2026 pricing guide, which adds three costs the headline schedule does not show: a $6.95 OTC equity commission, $50 to transfer a full account out, and a currency conversion markup of up to 3% of principal. Fidelity charges none of the three.
Investment selection9/10 × 25% = 2.3
Stocks, ETFs, options, bonds, mutual funds, fractional shares, a dedicated global account for international equities, and futures at $2.25 per contract confirmed from the April 2026 pricing guide. Below Interactive Brokers only on spot currencies and crypto.
Account types and features9/10 × 15% = 1.4
Published lineup covers taxable, joint, all IRA variants, custodial and trust accounts, plus managed portfolios from a $5,000 minimum. No HSA identified.

Total 8.7/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Charles Schwab review, with every fee and source
E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley8 / 8 / 8 / 98.2/10Solid
Safety and regulation8/10 × 30% = 2.4
Accounts sit with an active SEC-registered Morgan Stanley broker-dealer (8-68191) that is a SIPC member. Marked one point below the long-single-entity firms because BrokerCheck lists the original E*TRADE Securities LLC registration as inactive, so clients have been through an entity migration.
Fees and total cost8/10 × 30% = 2.4
$0 on stocks, ETFs and mutual funds with a $0.65 options contract fee that falls to $0.50 at 30 trades per quarter. Futures at $1.50 per contract are the most expensive futures rate we recorded, and crypto at 0.50% is mid-pack.
Investment selection8/10 × 25% = 2.0
Stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, bonds, CDs, futures and crypto all appear on the published schedule. Fractional shares and direct international listings were not confirmed from the page we read.
Account types and features9/10 × 15% = 1.4
Full retail lineup including all IRA variants, custodial, trust and managed Core Portfolios, backed by integrated banking through Morgan Stanley Private Bank.

Total 8.2/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley review, with every fee and source
tastytrade8 / 8 / 7 / 67.5/10Solid
Safety and regulation8/10 × 30% = 2.4
Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-69649), FINRA member and SIPC member. Scored below the incumbents on operating history — its CRD number places registration in the mid-2010s — with no enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.
Fees and total cost8/10 × 30% = 2.4
Free equity trades and a $10 per leg cap that makes large multi-leg options orders unusually cheap, with nothing charged to close a position. Scored below the flat-zero firms because a single equity option contract costs $1 to open, against $0.04 at the cheapest firm in our set, and — read on 30 August 2026 — closing the account costs $75 on the way out.
Investment selection7/10 × 25% = 1.8
Stocks, ETFs, equity and index options, futures, options on futures and crypto are all published, including micro futures. No mutual funds, which rules out a common long-term building block.
Account types and features6/10 × 15% = 0.9
Taxable, joint, IRA variants, trust and margin. No custodial, SEP, solo 401(k) or HSA identified.

Total 7.5/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full tastytrade review, with every fee and source
Webull7 / 9 / 6 / 57.1/10Mixed
Safety and regulation7/10 × 30% = 2.1
Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-69978) and SIPC member. Scored below the incumbents on operating history alone — its CRD number places its registration well after the established firms — not on any enforcement matter we identified.
Fees and total cost9/10 × 30% = 2.7
$0 on US-listed stocks, ETFs and standard options contracts, with regulatory fees itemised transparently. Held off a 10 by the $75 outgoing transfer fee, which is a real switching cost.
Investment selection6/10 × 25% = 1.5
Stocks, ETFs, options and fractional shares confirmed. No mutual funds. Futures and crypto not confirmed from the fee schedule we read.
Account types and features5/10 × 15% = 0.8
Taxable, traditional, Roth and rollover IRAs plus margin. No joint, custodial or trust accounts identified.

Total 7.1/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full Webull review, with every fee and source
TradeStation8 / 6 / 7 / 66.9/10Mixed
Safety and regulation8/10 × 30% = 2.4
Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-48711) and SIPC member with a registration history predating the newer app-first firms. No enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.
Fees and total cost6/10 × 30% = 1.8
Lowest score among the firms we publish. Share commissions are $0, but options and futures are priced per side on volume tiers that start above the flat-fee competitors, a $10 monthly inactivity fee applies unless waived, and the desktop platform with RadarScreen costs $99.99 a month for non-professionals.
Investment selection7/10 × 25% = 1.8
Stocks, ETFs, options and a deep futures range including micros. No mutual funds. Crypto and bond availability not confirmed from the pricing page we read.
Account types and features6/10 × 15% = 0.9
Taxable, joint, traditional and Roth IRAs, trust and margin. No custodial, SEP, solo 401(k) or HSA identified.

Total 6.9/10 · sum of weighted contributions, rounded to one decimal

Full TradeStation review, with every fee and source

How we evaluated

Safety and regulation30%
Evidence: FINRA BrokerCheck entity record — legal name, CRD number, SEC file number and registration status — SIPC membership, and public enforcement actions from the regulator or SRO that brought them.
Fees and total cost30%
Evidence: The firm's own published commission and fee schedule, read in full.
Investment selection25%
Evidence: The asset classes named on the firm's own published pricing or product pages.
Account types and features15%
Evidence: The account types named in the firm's own published account lineup.

Not scored, and why

  • Access and eligibility — Country-by-country onboarding terms confirmed against each firm's own account-opening documents.
  • Platform and usability — Hands-on use of a funded account on desktop, web and mobile.
  • Research and education — Logged-in access to each firm's research suite and education library.
  • Customer service — Timed contact tests across phone, chat and email, repeated over several weeks.
  • Execution quality — Analysis of SEC Rule 605 and Rule 606 order-execution and routing disclosures across a full quarter.

Researched but excluded

  • SoFi Invest (SOFI SECURITIES LLC, CRD 151717) — Legal entity confirmed via FINRA, but the fee page returned HTTP 403 when we attempted to read it. Re-attempted on 30 August 2026 against the published fee schedule PDF and the SoFi support articles: both returned 403 as well. Secondary summaries of SoFi’s pricing are available and we are not using them — we will not score a firm from anything but its own document.
Read the full methodology

Frequently asked questions

Which US brokers offer futures trading?
Of the twelve brokers we score, six publish a futures schedule: Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Webull, tastytrade and TradeStation. Fidelity, Vanguard, Merrill Edge, Robinhood, Public and eToro do not.
What is the cheapest broker for futures?
On published commission alone, Interactive Brokers at $0.85 a contract for up to 1,000 contracts a month, falling to $0.25 above 20,000. Every figure excludes exchange, clearing and NFA fees, which are charged on top at every broker and can exceed the commission on micro contracts.

Sources

  1. [1]Interactive Brokers — Stocks, ETFs, warrants and structured products commissionsRead August 28, 2026
  2. [2]Interactive Brokers — Options commissionsRead August 30, 2026
  3. [3]FINRA BrokerCheck — Interactive Brokers LLCRead August 28, 2026
  4. [4]Interactive Brokers — Other feesRead August 30, 2026
  5. [5]Interactive Brokers — Mutual fund commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  6. [6]Interactive Brokers — Bond commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  7. [7]Interactive Brokers — Futures commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  8. [8]Interactive Brokers — Cryptocurrency commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  9. [9]Interactive Brokers — Margin ratesRead August 31, 2026
  10. [10]Interactive Brokers — Spot currency commissionsRead August 31, 2026
  11. [11]Charles Schwab — Pricing and account feesRead August 28, 2026
  12. [12]FINRA BrokerCheck — Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.Read August 28, 2026
  13. [13]Charles Schwab — Pricing Guide for Individual Investors (April 2026)Read August 30, 2026
  14. [14]Charles Schwab — Margin rates and requirementsRead August 31, 2026
  15. [15]E*TRADE — Pricing and ratesRead August 28, 2026
  16. [16]FINRA BrokerCheck — Morgan Stanley / E*TRADE Securities LLCRead August 28, 2026
  17. [17]tastytrade — Pricing and commissionsRead August 28, 2026
  18. [18]FINRA BrokerCheck — tastytrade, Inc.Read August 28, 2026
  19. [19]tastytrade — Commissions and fees (last updated 30 July 2026)Read August 30, 2026
  20. [20]Webull — Pricing and feesRead August 28, 2026
  21. [21]FINRA BrokerCheck — Webull Financial LLCRead August 28, 2026
  22. [22]TradeStation — PricingRead August 28, 2026
  23. [23]FINRA BrokerCheck — TradeStation Securities, Inc.Read August 28, 2026
  24. [24]TradeStation — Service feesRead August 30, 2026
  25. [25]TradeStation — Margin ratesRead August 30, 2026

Affiliate disclosure

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Risk warning

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Nothing on this site is personalized investment advice, a recommendation to buy or sell any security, or a solicitation. Figures are read from public sources on the dates shown and can change without notice — verify anything you intend to act on with the provider directly. Read the full risk disclosure.