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E*TRADE vs TastyTrade
Compare TastyTrade/tastyworks versus Morgan Stanley E*TRADE: brokerage fees, options/futures accounts, &
stock trading platforms. Which broker is better in 2025?
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tastytrade vs. E*Trade
In this comparison, we’ll discover:
• E*Trade and tastytrade offer brokerage accounts with access to multiple asset classes.
• Only E*Trade has automated accounts.
• Advanced trading software for self-directed clients is available at either brokerage firm.
Do you need pro-level software to ramp up your trading? If so, E*Trade and tastytrade are worth considering. Before opening an account with either firm, take a look at our research.
Cost
| Broker Fees |
Stock/ETF
Commission |
Mutual Fund
Commission |
Options
Commission |
Maintenance
Fee |
Annual IRA
Fee |
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Tastytrade
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$0
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na
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$0.50 per contract
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$0
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$0
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Etrade
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$0
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$0
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$0.65 per contract
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$0
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$0
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Services
| Broker Review |
Cost |
Investment Products |
Trading Tools |
Customer Service |
Research |
Overall Rating |
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Tastytrade
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Etrade
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Promotions
tastytrade:
Get $250 for each trader you refer with this referral link.
E*Trade:
Get zero commission on stock and ETF trades.
Investing and Trading
With a brokerage account at tastytrade or E*Trade, it’s possible to trade these investment vehicles:
- Option contracts
- Stocks
- Exchange-traded funds
- Closed-end funds
- Treasury bonds
- Futures
E*Trade goes much further in the bond category with muni debit, corporate bonds, and brokered CDs. It also offers trading in mutual funds and liquid alternative funds. tastytrade adds cryptocurrencies to the list. Only E*Trade has over-the-counter stocks.
Investors who aren’t comfortable making their own trading decisions can open advisory accounts instead of brokerage accounts. The former are managed by the investment firm, which handles all trading decisions. E*Trade has robo accounts that charge just 0.35% per annum for this service. ETFs are the only assets available.
Winner: E*Trade
Mobile Apps
E*Trade customers get to use two apps: a main app and a Power app. The latter platform is the only one of the two that can trade futures; it also has a paper-trading mode for extra practice. Both apps combined deliver lots of great resources, including horizontal charting with tools, live streaming of Bloomberg business news, and integrated option spreads.
tastytrade customers get just one mobile app. We lose video news from Bloomberg but gain it from tastylive. A graph can be displayed horizontally, although there are no charting tools at all. There is no mobile check deposit, either, which is integrated on E*Trade’s main app. The tasty app has multi-leg option trades.
Winner: E*Trade
Websites
Websites continue the software faceoff with advanced browser platforms. E*Trade’s program continues the Power name and contains an order ticket with 10 trade types. Among them are Hidden and Stop Limit on Quote. Once again, we find simulated trading, which helps to learn the advanced order ticket. Charting is on an equally high level.
The tasty website has no trading capability at all; it is used for advertising and funds transfer. There is a web-browser platform, though. It is quite good and contains a lot of useful resources we really liked. Here are some examples:
- Follow Feed (a list of recent trades by tasty employees)
- Backtesting (examine how a trade performed in the past)
- Fixed Income (find Treasuries to buy)
- Journal (create and edit notes on your trading)
Winner: E*Trade
Desktop Software
One last trading platform E*Trade offers is Pro, a desktop program. It contains some useful tools that Power doesn’t have, including a Quick Trade window and an option screener.
tastytrade also has a desktop platform. The software has the same order ticket the other tasty platforms have, which means there are just four order types. Nevertheless, there are some other useful features, including very good charting with tools of many kinds.
Winner: E*Trade
Margin
Cash or margin trading is possible at E*Trade and tastytrade. The former broker, but not the latter, permits a cash account to upgrade to margin capability on its website. At tasty, a cash customer who wants to switch to margin trading must open a new account.
The cost of using margin varies by firm and by balance. E*Trade’s stepped schedule begins at 13.2% and ends at 10.2% (with negotiated rates above $500k). tasty’s margin system starts at 11% and ends at 8% (without any negotiated rates).
E*Trade, but not tasty, has a very thorough margin calculator on its website and desktop program. The software takes a ticker symbol and delivers several margin details, such as long and short maintenance requirements.
Winner: Disputable
Added Services
Fully-Paid Stock Lending: E*Trade and tasty customers can earn additional income in their brokerage accounts by loaning out their shares of securities.
DRIP Service: Dividends can be set to automatically convert to additional shares of the stocks or ETFs that paid them at either brokerage house in this comparison.
Fractional-Share Trading: Neither firm offers whole-dollar trading in stocks or ETFs.
Extended Hours: tastytrade clients can submit orders from 8:00 am, Eastern Standard Time, until 8:00 pm. E*Trade ends at the same time but begins one hour earlier. Plus, E*Trade has overnight trading in some ETFs.
IPOs: E*Trade customers can buy shares of Initial Public Offerings.
IRA Lineups: At E*Trade and tastytrade, investors can open Individual Retirement Accounts. tasty, but not E*Trade, has an IRA termination fee.
Winner: E*Trade
Recommendations
Beginners: An investment-advisory account at E*Trade.
Stock and ETF Trading: E*Trade has better research materials on its website, not to mention website trading itself, so it gets our endorsement.
Small Accounts: Managed accounts at E*Trade have a $500 minimum. Neither tasty nor E*Trade requires any minimum for brokerage accounts (but remember tasty’s IRA closeout fee). E*Trade has thousands of mutual funds with minimum investment amounts below $500, and some have $0 minimums.
Long-Term Investors & Retirement Savers: E*Trade.
Mutual-fund Trading: E*Trade is it.
Futures Trading: tasty has a greater emphasis on futures trading with better software for it. Plus, its futures commissions are lower.
Promotions
tastytrade:
Get $250 for each trader you refer with this referral link.
E*Trade:
Get zero commission on stock and ETF trades.
Final Verdict
For cryptocurrencies and futures, there is tastytrade. For everything else, there is E*Trade.
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Updated on 2/28/2025.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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