Review of TradeZero International
TradeZero operates one branch in the United States, one in Canada, and another in the Bahamas. This third division does not have pattern-day trading requirements, although there are still plenty of conditions attached. Here are the specifics:
Insurance and Regulations
TradeZero Bahamas is not based in the United States or Canada. Its headquarters are in Nassau,
which means it falls under securities oversight in the Bahamas. As a result, the SEC and
FINRA are not involved here.
SIPC coverage is also not part of the package. TradeZero Bahamas does carry insurance through Lloyd’s of
London and Bahamas First General.
Account Opening
An account with the Bahamian division of TradeZero can be opened online through the correct
website. That site is tradezero.co, not tradezero.us or us.tradezero.co, which belong to the
American operations. Straightforward enough.
But this is where the restrictions start: Americans, green card holders, permanent residents of the
United States, and Canadians are not allowed to open accounts. Even citizens of the Bahamas are not eligible. They are instead
directed to the company’s American or Canadian divisions (the Canadian site is at
tradezero.ca). Accounts opened through either of those firms will be subject to pattern-day trading rules in
their respective jurisdictions.
TradeZero Available Countries
The list of countries where TradeZero is available includes:
United States, India, China, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Thailand, South Africa, Singapore,
Hong Kong, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia,
Spain, Poland, and others. As an alternative, a USA broker ZacksTrade
supports almost all countries.
Asset Classes
TradeZero customers can trade the following investment products:
- Warrants
- Stocks
- Exchange-traded funds
- Option contracts
No other financial instruments are offered right now. TradeZero has said it plans to add cryptocurrency trading, but it is still unavailable at the time of publication.
Day Trading
4 stars
TradeZero’s Bahamian branch is especially appealing because it has no pattern day-trading rule (aside from a $500 minimum account balance).
Direct-access routing. Several trading platforms include a routing menu.
Shorting. TradeZero clients can not only short securities, but the broker also has a patent-pending feature that lets them sell back short locates they no longer need.
Level II quotes. Available for the major exchanges at no charge.
Routing fees and rebates. One drawback here is that only TradeZero America offers maker-taker fees.
Margin Trading
TradeZero Bahamas provides up to 6:1 leverage for day traders, although this requires account equity of at least $2,500. Under that level, 4:1 leverage is available. If an account drops under $500, only cash trading is allowed. Accounts above $500 must be down to 2:1 leverage by 3:55 pm, EST.
Stocks priced below $1 cannot be shorted at TradeZero, and stocks priced below $0.10 cannot be bought or shorted. Stocks below $3 are restricted to cash trading.
TradeZero Bahamas currently charges 8% on any margin debit carried overnight.
TradeZero International Pricing
True to its name, TradeZero charges $0 on some trades. These are limit orders for at least 200 shares on the major U.S. exchanges that create an immediate match. The stock must be priced at $1 or more.
Trades that do not qualify under those rules cost 0.5¢ per share.
Orders for fewer than 200 shares carry a $0.99 flat charge in addition to the per-share commission.
Options trades cost 59¢ per contract. Exercises and assignments are $35.
TradeZero charges $59 per month to use either ZeroPro or ZeroWeb. These are the broker’s two best platforms. We’ll go through them next.
ZeroPro
At the top of the lineup is ZeroPro. This is the broker’s flagship trading platform, and it includes a long list of valuable tools. Among them are:
- Full-screen charting with extras like indicators (more than 70 of them) and drawing tools
- Color-coded Level 2 data
- Advanced order ticket with conditional orders, discrete sell short button, and more
- Watchlist that updates in real-time
- Market movers (for example, NYSE Most Active)
- Hot keys
- Time & sales data (also color coded)
- Options trading window
- High Low Ticker (window shows securities hitting 52-week high and low spots)
Pro works on any computer running Windows 7 or later. It does not run on Mac.
ZeroWeb
One step below is ZeroWeb. Unlike Pro, this software is not a standalone desktop program. Instead, it runs inside a browser window. The benefit of this design is that ZeroWeb works on Mac (through Firefox or Chrome, but not Safari).
Even though it is browser-based, ZeroWeb still manages to offer many of the same strong features found in Pro. For instance, it has hot keys, Level 2 quotes, charts, watchlists, and more. But some tools are absent. These include alerts and the broker’s stock screener. ZeroWeb also cannot place option trades, which is a major drawback.
Although TradeZero has a mobile app, ZeroWeb can also run on tablets and phones.
ZeroFree
Another step down is ZeroFree. This is an HTML5 platform that runs inside a browser. As its name suggests, it is free to use. That said, adding hot keys comes with an extra cost, which is $15 per month.
ZeroFree can display just one Level 2 window at a time. The other two platforms can display multiple Level 2 windows simultaneously. The number of chart windows is also lower on ZeroFree. Two can be shown at the same time inside one workspace. ZeroPro, in comparison, can display as many as 10 charts at once.
ZeroMobile
Last, we get to the mobile app. Like ZeroFree, this platform is free to use. But the mobile app has the smallest toolset. Missing features include alerts, a screener, market movers, and Level 2 quotes. Options trading is also unavailable.
Even with those limitations, the mobile platform does have some strengths. Here are a few:
- Locate tool for hard-to-borrow stocks
- Trades and positions sync with other TradeZero platforms
- Compatible with both Apple and Android devices (phones and tablets)
- Watchlist
- News articles from Benzinga
- Charting with volume and OHLC data
Other Services
Extended Hours Trading: TradeZero clients can trade before the regular session starts and after it ends.
Dividend Reinvesting: TradeZero does not offer a DRIP program.
Fractional Shares: Only whole shares are available right now.
Cash Management Features: There are no debit cards or checks here.
Initial Public Offerings: Also not available.
Individual Retirement Accounts: No retirement accounts of any type are offered.
Recommendations
Mutual Funds: As mentioned above, TradeZero does not provide mutual funds.
Charles Schwab does, and it offers thousands of them.
Small Accounts: Because TradeZero charges commissions on some orders, we have to recommend
Robinhood.
Long-Term Investors and Retirement Savers: A brokerage account at
ZacksTrade (possibly several accounts) would make sense.
Beginning Investors: We can’t recommend TradeZero for beginners. A better route would be a
managed account at Robinhood.
Active ETF and Stock Trading: Frequent stock traders should do fine with TradeZero,
especially when using the ZeroPro platform.
Comparison
Compared with other Caribbean brokers, TradeZero is very competitive. For example, Capital Markets
Elite Group does not offer ETF or options trading. And SureTrader has recently gone out of
business, leaving F1Trade, which has no insurance.
But when TradeZero is compared with
ZacksTrade
the picture changes quite a bit. Unlike TradeZero, ZacksTrade offers mutual funds, IRAs,
no platform fees, lower margin rates, and access to most markets around the world.
TradeZero International Review Summary
Although TradeZero in the Bahamas gets around America’s PDT rule, it does not offer great value
for every trader. With a limited selection of tradable assets, we come away underwhelmed.
Updated on 3/26/2026.
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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