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Thinkorswim vs ChoiceTrade
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- Stocks and ETFs (not direct access): $5 per trade
- Stocks and ETFs (direct access): $0.005 per share, $1 minimum per trade
- Stocks and ETFs (broker-assisted): $30 per trade
- Options: $5 plus $0.15 per contract
- Mutual funds: $25 per trade
- Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, Forex, ETFs
- Minimum to open Choicetrade account: $0 for cash account, 2,000 for margin account
- All Choicetrade fees
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- Stocks and ETFs flat-rate plan: $9.95 per trade on market or limit orders, 5,000 shares maximum
- Stocks and ETFs per-share plan: $0.015 per share, $5 minimum
- OTCBB (Pink Sheets): $9.99 for any stock trade regardless of size or order type for stocks $2 or less
- Options: the lesser of $2.95 per contract OR $1.50 per contract plus $9.95 (only one $9.95 charge for unlimited spread legs)
- Mutual funds: first three mutual fund trades in calendar month are free; $15 per trade after that
- Bonds: up to 6 months maturity - $1 per bond
- Over 6 months up to 1 year maturity: $1.50 per bond
- Over 1 year maturity: $2 per bond
- Listed Bonds: $1.5 per bond additional
- Treasuries: minimum order is $25,000 ($25 minimum commission)
- All other bonds: minimum order is for 10 bonds ($25 minimum commission)
- Futures: $3.50 per contract (inclusive of exchange fees)
- Options on Futures: $3 per contract (inclusive of exchange fees)
- Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, T-Bills, futures, forex, ETFs
- Minimum to open Thinkorswim account: $3,500
- All Thinkorswim fees
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- Direct access trading with lowest per share commissions
- Very low flat-rate commissions
- Powerful trading platforms
- No account minimum, maintenance or inactivity fees
- Free paper trading
- Investor community
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- Powerful trading platform, good risk management tools
- Lots of investment products to choose from
- No IRA fees
- Great customer service
- Virtual trading
- No surcharge for placing trade through broker
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- While web-based trading platform with delayed quotes is free, more advanced platforms and streaming quotes are not: web-based Choicestreamer is $14.95/month,
ChoiceTrader Direct pro is $49/month, Choicetrader Select with eSignal is $126/month
- Extended hours stock trades have $0.005 per share surcharge
- 1% surcharge of the total dollar value of the order in addition to the normal commission of $5 per trade to all stock orders of more than 500,000 shares
- High mutual fund commissions
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- High stock commissions
- In flat-fee plan there is additional charge of $0.005 per share on every share above 5,000
- All order types other than limit, marketable limit, and market orders will be charged per share rates
- Might be too complicated for beginner investors
- Browser trading is very slow
- High margin rates
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ChoiceTrade vs Thinkorswim: Comparison Summary
Choicetrade (Choicetrade Review) definitely
offers better investing costs than
Thinkorswim (Thinkorswim Review):
$5 flat rate for stocks and ETFs versus Thinkorswim's $0.015 per share with $5 minimum commission per trade.
Both firms don't charge maintenance and inactivity fees.
These two stock brokerage firms do not have surcharges on penny stocks and, in case of
Thinkorswim, on extended hours trading. ChoiceTrade is much cheaper for larger orders, since Thinkorswim uses pay-per-share
commission structure.
Both companies don't have IRA setup and annual IRA fees. They did not, however, made it into our list of
Best IRA Account online brokers.
Choicetrade and Thinkorswim offer great trading tools, direct access to the markets, free virtual trading and responsive
customer service. They are highly rated by all investment magazines.
Because of much lower commissions, which will save customers hundreds or maybe even thousands of dollars over the years in
investment costs, we recommend ChoiceTrade for a brokerage account over Thinkorswim. Also, take a look at our
recommendations in Best Discount Brokers article.
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