Charles Schwab Thinkorswim Overview
Charles Schwab’s thinkorswim trading platform is probably the most well-known trading platform available. It has a lot of features, tools, and details built in, so there is a lot to talk about. We took a deep look at everything this platform offers, so if you want a complete review of thinkorswim, you’re in the right place.
Thinkorswim is available in three versions: a downloadable desktop version, a mobile app, and a web version. All three are free for Charles Schwab customers. Each version provides real-time streaming quotes and level 2 quotes at no cost for all non-professional users. You don’t need a paid subscription, and there are no extra fees to use the platform.
Thinkorswim Commissions
| Investments | Commissions |
|---|
| Stocks and ETFs | $0 |
| Stocks and ETFs broker assisted | $25 |
| US Over-The-Counter (OTC) Equities | $6.95 |
| Options | $0.65 per contract |
| Mutual funds | $0/$49.95/$74.95 to buy, $0 to sell |
| Futures | $2.25 per contract |
| CDs, Corporate Bonds, Municipal Bonds, Government Agencies, Zero-Coupon Treasuries, including STRIPS and Mortgage-Backed Securities | $1 per bond, $10 minimum, $250 maximum |
| Preferred Stocks and REITs | $0 |
| Commercial Paper and Foreign Bonds, Unit Investment Trusts | call for pricing |
| Investments |
stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures, Treasury issues, options, CDs, insurance, ETFs,
forex, annuities, non-U.S. securities and ADRs, WEBs and Canadian foreign orders
|
| Charles Schwab minimum deposit to open account | $0 for cash account, $2,000 for margin account |
| Fees | Thinkorswim fees |
Thinkorswim Types of Accounts & Investments
You can use thinkorswim with almost any type of account you have at Charles Schwab, including standard brokerage accounts, IRAs, and trust accounts. You can trade stocks, ETFs, options, FOREX, mutual funds, futures, and futures options. The only difference between the versions is that the mobile app does not support mutual fund trading.
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Thinkorswim Charting
The main strength of thinkorswim is its charting tools. Thinkorswim offers some of the best chart features in the business. Both the charts and their features are highly customizable, with hundreds of settings.
You can use more than 300 technical indicators and patterns, over 20 drawing tools, more than 10 chart types, and hundreds of timeframes. You can save all your chart settings, make different custom layouts, and keep sets of your drawings, technical indicators, and custom timeframes.
The charts are interactive and flexible, which makes them easier to use than many other platforms that have fixed charts. You can resize the charts as you like and move them around your screen. You can add technical indicators and drawings on the charts or show indicators below the charts. You can open up to 32 charts at once, which is a lot, but it shows how much the platform can handle.
Thinkorswim charts also have advanced navigation. The “pan” cursor lets you drag the chart left or right to see different parts of the timeframe. The “pointer” cursor lets you highlight any area of the chart and then zoom in on that spot.
You can right-click on the chart and pick “autozoom” to zoom out to the original view for your selected timeframe. You can also use the zoom buttons below the chart or set up your own hotkeys to zoom in and out fast.
Thinkorswim Powerful & Unique Features
Thinkorswim has many strong and special features. First, all three versions have a paper trading feature. You can use paper trading to practice or test ideas, and the platform also lets you back-test strategies. The OnDemand tool lets you go back to any date and time to see price action on a chart and paper trade from that point. The thinkBack tool lets you see how hypothetical options trades would have worked out over time.
You can set up and use more than 50 different hot keys for things like placing orders, opening tools, or editing a chart. One of the best features is that you can make and save hundreds of custom chart timeframes. You can base these on the number of ticks, the range of ticks, or regular time intervals.
Another standout feature is Active Trader. This is a real-time price ladder that lets you place orders just by clicking on the bid or ask. You can pick which columns show up, like volume at each price, your profit/loss, and your filled orders. At the top of the ladder, you’ll see customizable order entry buttons like buy market, sell bid, or flatten.
Thinkscript is a tool in thinkorswim that lets you make automated scripts to use inside the platform. These scripts can range from creating new technical indicators to strategies that place trades for you automatically. You can also share your scripts with others or use scripts others have made.
Another feature is the ability to export and share images of charts. This makes it easy to build a library of charts to look back at later without having to search online for examples. Finally, the huge number of customizable settings and options in thinkorswim is worth mentioning by itself.
Thinkorswim Order Entry
You can place orders on thinkorswim in several ways, and some methods are straightforward while others are less obvious. The three main ways are using the classic order entry ticket, using preset order buttons like buy ask or sell market, and using the Active Trader ladder.
There are many ways to get to these order entry options, such as right-clicking your positions or watchlist, right-clicking a quote, clicking the bid or ask in a scan result, clicking the bid or ask in an option chain, clicking the bid or ask in a level 2 quote, or right-clicking a chart.
However you prefer to trade, thinkorswim gives you plenty of choices to make order entry quick and easy. You can also save orders in the classic ticket and come back to them anytime. Thinkorswim supports market, limit, stop, OCO, trailing, and on-the-close order types.
Thinkorswim Account Research
Picking what to trade can be harder than trading itself. Luckily, thinkorswim has several tools to help you find and analyze possible trades. You can also research the market as a whole and get market-related data.
There are three main scanners: a stock scanner, an options scanner, and a spreads scanner. The stock scanner lets you search for stocks using hundreds of criteria, including technical ones like the put/call ratio or any of many technical indicators. The options scanner lets you search for single-leg options using many filters. The spreads scanner is special because it lets you search for spreads across stocks, options, FOREX, and futures.
Thinkorswim also has a helpful calendar showing events like dividends, earnings, and splits for each week or month. Other tools include a Fundamentals tool with in-depth company data, a probability analysis tool that shows possible stock moves based on options volatility, and an Economic Data tool with lots of economic statistics.
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User Interface
The thinkorswim user interface is not the flashiest, but it works well. The interface might look outdated, but it’s very practical. It’s clear that the platform was designed with trading features and efficiency as the top priority.
The mobile and web versions look cleaner than the desktop version, which can look a little pixelated. All three versions present information in a simple, boxy style. Still, the navigation is easy to use for finding what you need.
Thinkorswim Cons
The main thing that could be better about thinkorswim is the user interface, especially on desktop, where things can look blurry or pixelated. Some menu items could also be labeled more clearly. For example, the stock scanner is called “stock hacker,” which could be confusing for new users, even though it’s listed under the Scan menu.
Another improvement would be making it easier to find the order ticket for stocks. There are several ways to do it, but it might take a beginner a while to figure them out. Also, some features are not easy to understand at first, so adding a quick tip or info bubble when you hover over a tool would help.
Who is Thinkorswim Best For
Thinkorswim is mainly aimed at advanced traders and short-term investors. New traders may find it difficult to learn because of the many features and the busy look of the platform. It’s an excellent platform for scalp traders, day traders, options traders, swing traders, futures traders, and FOREX traders.
Long-term investors can still get use from thinkorswim, but it doesn’t have portfolio management features. Thinkorswim doesn’t allow fractional share trading, so investors with smaller accounts may not use it much for trading. Still, they can take advantage of the research and paper trading tools.
Thinkorswim System Requirements
The mobile app doesn’t have system requirements and is available on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The web version works on Safari 11 and the latest Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Chrome. For the desktop version, you need Windows 10 or Mac OS 10.11+, an Intel Core i3+ processor, 8GB of RAM, 1 GB of free hard drive space, and a 1280x768 display at minimum.
Awards
Charles Schwab Thinkorswim Summary
Thinkorswim is a very strong, full-featured trading platform that can improve your trading if you use it well. There’s value for everyone, from total beginners who want to practice with paper trading to professional FOREX traders who want great charting tools. Thinkorswim takes time to learn and the interface isn’t the best, but the features make up for it.
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Updated on 6/16/2025.
Paul Johnson is a Licensed Stockbroker with 7+ years of experience in the financial services industry. Paul enjoys teaching about investing and writing about financial topics. He is a husband and father of twin boys.
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