Thinkorswim Overview
Thinkorswim, Charles Schwab's flagship trading platform, is widely regarded as one of the most powerful and feature-rich trading platforms available. It offers a wide range of tools and capabilities, making it a popular choice for active traders. In this review, we dive into all the key aspects of the platform.
Thinkorswim is available in three versions: a downloadable desktop application, a mobile app, and a web-based platform. All three versions are free to Charles Schwab customers. They include real-time streaming quotes and Level 2 quotes at no additional cost for non-professional users. Thinkorswim does not require 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
|
| Minimum deposit to open an account | $0 for cash account, $2,000 for margin account |
| Fees | Thinkorswim fees |
Thinkorswim Types of Accounts & Investments
Thinkorswim can be used with nearly any brokerage account at Charles Schwab, including non-retirement accounts, IRAs, and trust accounts. The platform supports a variety of assets, including stocks, ETFs, options, FOREX, mutual funds, futures, and options on futures. However, mutual funds are not available on the mobile version.
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Thinkorswim Charting
One of Thinkorswim’s standout features is its advanced charting capabilities. The platform provides some of the most powerful charting tools in the industry. Thinkorswim’s charts are highly customizable, offering a vast array of settings to adjust to your preferences.
The charts include over 300 technical indicators and patterns, 20+ drawing tools, 10+ chart types, and hundreds of customizable timeframes. You can save your chart setups and create multiple custom layouts. Additionally, you can save custom sets of technical indicators and drawings, as well as your timeframes.
The charts are dynamic and flexible, making them a preferable option compared to many other platforms that offer static charts. You can adjust the chart sizes and move them around the screen to suit your needs. You can also place indicators and drawings on the charts or in separate areas below them. Thinkorswim supports up to 32 open charts simultaneously, which, though excessive, is a noteworthy capability.
Thinkorswim charts also offer intuitive navigation. The “pan” tool allows you to drag the chart horizontally to explore different timeframes. The “pointer” tool enables you to highlight and zoom in on specific areas of the chart.
Right-clicking on a chart lets you activate the “autozoom” feature, which brings you back to the initial view for your selected timeframe. Alternatively, you can zoom in and out using the zoom buttons at the bottom of the chart or by setting up customized hotkeys.
Thinkorswim Powerful & Unique Features
Thinkorswim includes a variety of powerful and unique features. For example, the platform offers a paper trading feature in all versions. You can use this feature to test strategies or learn trading without real risk. Thinkorswim also includes tools to backtest your strategies. The OnDemand feature lets you go back to any date and time and view live price action on a chart, enabling you to paper trade based on historical data. The thinkBack tool lets you input hypothetical options trades to see how they would have performed over time.
Thinkorswim also lets you customize over 50 hotkeys for various commands, such as placing orders, opening specific tools, and editing charts. A standout feature is the ability to create and save custom timeframes for charts. You can set timeframes based on tick counts, tick ranges, or traditional time intervals.
Another unique feature is Active Trader, a streaming price ladder that allows you to place orders directly by clicking on the bid or ask prices. You can customize the columns to display information like volume at each price level, open-position profit/loss, and order fills. The Active Trader ladder also includes customizable buttons for quick order entries such as "buy market" and "sell bid."
ThinkScript allows you to automate tasks within the platform. You can create custom technical indicators or strategies that automatically place trades for you based on set conditions. You can also share your scripts with others or import scripts created by others.
Thinkorswim also enables you to export charts as images, which is useful for building a library of saved charts for future reference. The platform’s numerous customizable settings are also a key feature.
Thinkorswim Order Entry
Thinkorswim offers several order entry methods, allowing you to choose the one that works best for you. The three main methods include using the classic order entry ticket, pre-programmed order buttons (like buy ask or sell market), and the Active Trader ladder.
You can access the order entry methods by right-clicking on securities in your positions or watchlist, clicking on a quote, or clicking on the bid/ask in search results, option chains, Level 2 quotes, or charts.
Thinkorswim provides plenty of options to enter orders efficiently, including the ability to save orders in the classic order entry ticket for easy access. Supported order types include market, limit, stop, OCO, trailing stop, and on-the-close.
Thinkorswim Research Tools
Finding securities to trade can sometimes be challenging, but Thinkorswim offers several research tools to help. These tools can assist in analyzing individual securities and gathering market-wide data.
Thinkorswim provides three types of scanners: a stock scanner, an options scanner, and a spreads scanner. The stock scanner allows you to search for stocks based on hundreds of criteria, including technical indicators. The options scanner searches for single-leg options based on various criteria. The spreads scanner searches across markets for different spreads based on selected criteria.
Thinkorswim also has a calendar feature that displays important events for stocks, such as dividends, earnings reports, and splits. Other research tools include a detailed Fundamentals tool, a probability analysis tool for options, and an Economic Data feature that includes a library of key economic data points.
Thinkorswim Website
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User Interface
The Thinkorswim user interface is functional but may not win any beauty contests. It’s not the most modern-looking interface, but it’s extremely practical and designed with efficiency in mind.
The mobile and web versions have a cleaner look compared to the desktop version, which appears somewhat pixelated. All versions feature a simple, boxy design, making it easy to navigate and find what you need.
Thinkorswim Cons
One of Thinkorswim’s biggest drawbacks is its user interface, particularly on the desktop version. The pixelated appearance of the desktop platform could use an update. Additionally, the navigation could be more intuitive—some menu titles aren’t clear, such as the “stock hacker” tool, which could confuse beginners.
Another area for improvement is the process for pulling up an equity trading ticket. There are multiple ways to access it, but beginners may find it time-consuming to figure out which method works best. Adding tooltips or explanation bubbles for key features could help make the platform more accessible to new users.
Who is Thinkorswim Best For
Thinkorswim is geared toward experienced traders and short-term investors. Beginners may find the platform overwhelming due to its steep learning curve and the wide range of features to master. Thinkorswim is ideal for day traders, options traders, swing traders, futures traders, and FOREX traders.
Long-term investors can still use Thinkorswim, but it lacks portfolio management features. Additionally, since fractional share trading isn’t available, smaller investors may find the platform less useful for their needs, although they can still benefit from the research and paper trading tools.
Thinkorswim System Requirements
The Thinkorswim mobile app has no specific system requirements and can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. The web version works on Safari 11, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. For the desktop version, you need Windows 10 or macOS 10.11+, an Intel Core i3+ processor, 8GB of RAM, 1GB of free hard drive space, and a display resolution of at least 1280x768.
Awards
Thinkorswim Review Summary
Thinkorswim is an incredibly powerful trading platform with an impressive set of features. It's suitable for traders of all levels, from beginners learning to paper trade to professionals needing advanced charting and analysis tools. While it has a steep learning curve and a dated interface, its comprehensive features make it a top choice for serious traders.
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Updated on 2/26/2026.
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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