Annual Review
How does optionsXpress stack up against the competition over the long term?
The average options trader trades 20 times a year, 10 lots at a time. At that rate, optionsXpress leads the way for low commissions—year in and year out.2
Pricing & Commissions graph
XpressRouter® Technology
XpressRouter technology helps make optionsXpress an even better value. How?
- By quoting all U.S. exchanges simultaneously to get the best price for your order
- By seeking out the most liquid markets to find price improvement for retail-sized market and marketable limit orders
- By automatically pushing your order to a broker for manual review if the market is artificially wide
- By keeping an eye out for exchange outages and moving your order to keep it in the marketplace
What’s the bottom line? Big savings for optionsXpress customers. Last quarter, XpressRouter saved customers7 over
$2,646,189.28!
optionsXpress Rates
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Futures commission rates No. of Contracts Price per Contract per Side4 Over 1,000 Contracts/Month $2.99/contract 301–1,000 Contracts/Month $3.99/contract 101–300 Contracts/Month $4.99/contract 41–100 Contracts/Month $5.99/contract 1–40 Contracts/Month $6.99/contract -
Stocks commission rates Up to 1,000 1,001+ $9.95 $0.01/share -
Other trading commission rates Name Rate Misc. Broker Assisted or Limit Orders No extra charge Spreads, Straddles & Combos5 - $14.95 minimum
- $1.50/contract
Up to four (4) legs Covered Calls (Buy Writes) $24.90 minimum Each leg represents a trade Mutual Funds $9.95 Plus any additional loads or fees Bonds $5.00/bond $9.95 minimum Exercise or Assignment $9.95 Per exercise/assignment Penny Options Buy to Close - $4.95 minimum
- $0.50/contract
Less than $0.05 options in the penny options classes only Partial Fills Please review how commissions apply on partial fills.
Compare Rates
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Comparison of futures commission rates Broker optionsXpress Schwab Ameritrade Scottrade E*Trade Fidelity Futures Contracts As low as $2.99/contract N/A N/A N/A $2.99 N/A -
Comparison of stocks commission rates Broker optionsXpress Schwab Ameritrade Scottrade E*Trade Fidelity Shares - $9.95
- or $0.01/share over 1,000
- $8.95
- unlimited shares
- $9.99
- unlimited shares
- $7.00
- unlimited shares for stocks over $1
- $9.99
- unlimited shares
- $7.95
- unlimited shares
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Comparison of options commission rates Broker optionsXpress Schwab Ameritrade Scottrade E*Trade Fidelity Mutual Funds $9.95 Up to $49.95 $49.99 $17.00 Up to $19.99 $75.00 Margin Interest6 6.25% 8.50% 9.00% 7.75% 8.14% 8.58% Streaming News Free N/A $29.99/month Free N/A N/A Inactivity Fee N/A N/A N/A N/A $40/quarter N/A
Interest Charged on Margin Balances
| Margin Balance | Interest Rate |
|---|---|
| $0–$49,999 | 6.25% |
| $50k–$99,999 | 5.25% |
| $100k–$249,999 | 5.00% |
| $250k–$499,999 | 4.75% |
| $500k–$999,999 | 4.50% |
| $1,000,000+ | 4.00% |
NBBO Guarantee
At optionsXpress, you can be sure to get the NBBO on any eligible trade. We guarantee the best price or we’ll credit your commission. If you see a possible discrepancy, let us know immediately after you get the electronic confirmation of the execution. Our commitment is to provide the quickest execution at a reasonable price so you can trade with confidence.
Ready to Get Started?
Our easy online application can have you up and trading in just minutes.
Please see the disclosures page for additional information regarding this section.
