Thinkorswim Overview
Charles Schwab’s thinkorswim trading platform is one of the most popular trading platforms around. It includes many features, tools, and details, so there's a lot to discuss. We explored all aspects of the platform, so if you need a complete review of thinkorswim, you’re in the right place.
Thinkorswim has three versions: a desktop program you can install, a mobile app, and a web-based platform. All three are free for Charles Schwab clients. They all include free real-time streaming quotes and level 2 quotes for non-professional traders. Thinkorswim doesn’t require a paid membership and charges no extra fees for using it.
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 nearly any Charles Schwab brokerage account, including non-retirement accounts, IRAs, and trust accounts. You can trade stocks, ETFs, options, FOREX, mutual funds, futures, and futures options. The only difference in tradable assets among the three versions is that mutual funds are not tradable on the mobile app.
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Thinkorswim Charting
The main highlight of thinkorswim is its charting capabilities. Thinkorswim has some of the best charts and charting features in the business. Both the charts and their tools are highly customizable, with hundreds of settings to tweak.
The charts let you use more than 300 technical indicators and patterns, over 20 drawing tools, over 10 chart types, and hundreds of potential timeframes. You can save all your chart settings, make multiple custom layouts, and build sets of your personalized drawings and technical indicators. You can also save your own timeframes.
The charts are dynamic and flexible, which is better than many static charting platforms. You can resize them however you want and move them anywhere on your screen. You can add indicators and drawings directly on the chart or put some indicators below it. You can open up to 32 charts at the same time, which is a lot, but it shows the platform’s power.
Thinkorswim also has advanced navigation. The “pan” cursor lets you drag the chart left or right, while the “pointer” cursor lets you highlight any section of the chart and then zoom into that section.
Right-clicking anywhere on the chart and choosing “autozoom” resets it to the original view for your selected timeframe. You can also use the zoom-in and zoom-out icons at the bottom of the chart or set up hot keys for quick zoom adjustments.
Thinkorswim Powerful & Unique Features
Thinkorswim has many strong and unique features. For starters, it includes a paper trading mode in all three versions. Along with paper trading to learn or test strategies, it has tools that let you back-test your ideas. The OnDemand tool lets you pick any date and time to watch live price action from the past, so you can paper trade as if it was happening in real time. The thinkBack tool lets you enter theoretical options trades from past dates to see how they would have done over time.
You can also create more than 50 different hot keys for tasks like placing orders, opening tools, or adjusting a chart. One of thinkorswim’s most notable features is the ability to set custom chart timeframes. You can set and save hundreds of timeframe combinations, including tick-based, range-based, or regular time periods.
Another standout feature is Active Trader, which is basically a live price ladder that lets you place orders by clicking on the bid or ask at the chosen price level in real time. You can customize the columns to see volume at each price level, your position’s profit/loss at each level, and your order fills. At the top, you can add buttons like buy market, sell bid, or flatten.
Thinkscript is thinkorswim’s built-in scripting language that lets you create automated scripts within the platform. These scripts can range from custom indicators to automated strategies that place trades for you based on your inputs. You can export your scripts to share or import ones from other traders.
You can also export and share chart images directly from thinkorswim. This makes it easy to build your own chart library for study instead of searching online. Finally, the sheer amount of customizable settings in thinkorswim is impressive in its own right.
Thinkorswim Order Entry
You can place orders in multiple ways on thinkorswim. Some methods are straightforward, while others are more hidden. The three main methods are using the classic-style order entry ticket, using ready-made order buttons like buy ask, sell market, or buy market, and using the Active Trader ladder.
You can reach these order entry methods in many ways: by right-clicking positions or watchlist symbols, right-clicking a quote, clicking the bid or ask in scan results, clicking the bid or ask in an option chain, clicking the bid or ask in level 2 quotes, or right-clicking on a chart.
Whichever route you choose, thinkorswim offers many ways to enter orders quickly and effectively. You can also save orders in the classic ticket to place later. Order types include market, limit, stop, OCO, trailing, and on-the-close.
Thinkorswim Research Tools
Deciding which stocks to trade can sometimes be tougher than trading itself. Fortunately, thinkorswim has several research tools to help you find and analyze investments for your strategy. It also includes resources for reviewing the broader market and related data.
Thinkorswim provides three types of scanners: one for stocks, one for options, and one for spreads. The stock scanner searches the market for stocks using hundreds of criteria, including technical factors like the put/call ratio or any of the many technical indicators. The options scanner searches single-leg options with various criteria. The spreads scanner is unique because it scans across stocks, options, FOREX, and futures for different spread strategies using dozens of filters.
Thinkorswim also offers a handy calendar to show key events for stocks, such as dividends, earnings, and splits, on a weekly or monthly view. Other tools include a Fundamentals feature for a detailed company overview, a probability analysis tool for implied price moves based on options volatility, and an Economic Data section that lets you explore a variety of important economic stats.
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User Interface
Thinkorswim’s interface isn’t the prettiest, but it’s not terrible. It looks somewhat older but is still quite functional. It’s clear the design focuses on trading features and efficiency.
The mobile and web versions look a bit more modern than the desktop version, which can appear pixelated. All three versions are fairly plain and boxy in how data is displayed. But the navigation is intuitive on all of them, making it easy to move around and find what you need.
Thinkorswim Cons
The biggest area for improvement is definitely the user interface. On the desktop version, the visuals could use a refresh so that nothing looks blurry or pixelated. Also, some of the menu navigation could be more obvious with clearer labels. For example, the stock scanner is called “stock hacker,” which might confuse beginners.
Another improvement would be a simpler, more direct way to access the equity trading ticket. Right now, there are several ways to do it, but a beginner might take a few minutes to figure them out. Finally, it can be hard at first to know what certain tools and features do. A quick tip or help bubble when hovering over a tool would be very helpful.
Who is Thinkorswim Best For
Thinkorswim mainly targets advanced traders and short-term investors. Beginners might find it tough at first because of its many features and the platform’s complexity. Thinkorswim is excellent for scalp traders, day traders, options traders, swing traders, futures traders, and FOREX traders.
Long-term investors can still use thinkorswim, but there aren’t many portfolio management tools. Thinkorswim also doesn’t offer fractional shares, so small-balance traders may not benefit much from actual trades, though they can still use the research tools and paper trading to practice.
Thinkorswim System Requirements
The thinkorswim mobile app has no specific requirements and can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. The web version works on Safari 11 and newer versions of Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Chrome. For the desktop version, you’ll need Windows 10 or Mac OS 10.11 or higher, an Intel Core i3 or better, 8GB of RAM, 1GB of free hard drive space, and at least a 1280x768 resolution.
Awards
Thinkorswim Review Summary
Thinkorswim is a very powerful, feature-rich platform that can boost your trading if you use it well. It offers benefits for everyone, whether you’re a brand-new trader who wants to paper trade or a pro FOREX trader needing top-level charting, and everything in between. It does have a steep learning curve and a less-than-ideal interface, but its many strengths outweigh those downsides.
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Updated on 3/17/2025.
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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