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$0 per contract and $0 base
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Webull is among the cheapest brokers for trading options. The firm has no base commission, no per-contract fee, and no assignment or exercise fee. You pay nothing to open or close a contract, so more of each profit stays in your pocket.
Another big benefit is Webull’s low margin rates: from 4.74% on very large debits to 8.74% on balances below
$25k. These rates are 2–4 percentage points lower than most competitors, making leveraged trades cheaper.
You can add options trading with the mobile app. On the app’s bottom menu, tap the center icon (the bull horns), then the circle with three dots (“More”). On the next screen choose “Options Trading” under “Account” and follow the prompts; approval usually takes less than a day.
Read full Webull options trading review »
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$0 per contract and $0 base
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If you trade stocks or options at Robinhood, you probably already know that the broker offers free trading for all supported securities. Commission-free options trading is very rare in the industry, and it is a big advantage for traders using multi-leg strategies.
Building multi-leg options at Robinhood gives you more flexibility in your trading. You can lower the cost of pricey stock options, try to profit from price moves, or use time decay to your benefit.
Whether you trade credit spreads, debit spreads, butterflies, condors, or calendars, spreads can help you fine-tune your strategy.
Fees and Commissions
Before going into the available strategies, it’s worth noting that Robinhood is one of the few brokers that lets you trade spreads with zero commissions. This is very helpful for investors setting up multi-leg trades.
Types of Multi Leg Options at Robinhood
Robinhood supports several multi-leg options strategies. What you can trade depends on your options trading permission level.
Multi-leg options trading becomes available at Level 3.
Here are the multi-leg strategies you can trade at Robinhood:
- Credit Spreads
- Debit Spreads
- Calendar Spreads
- Diagonals
- Iron Condors
- Iron Butterflies
- Butterflies
- Unbalanced Butterflies
- Broken Wing Butterflies
One key thing to know is that you must build the strategies yourself.
Let’s go over how to create and manage a multi-leg trade.
Open Robinhood Account
3% deposit match and FREE stock worth up to $200 at Robinhood.
Visit Robinhood Website
Placing a Multi Leg Options Trade
When creating a multi-leg trade, you’ll choose two to four legs. You can mix ‘buys,’ ‘sells,’ ‘calls,’ and ‘puts’ in almost any way you want. You can also set different expiration dates for each leg.
The colors displayed update in real time (switching between red and green) depending on whether the calls or puts are gaining or losing value.
Using the building blocks of ‘buys,’ ‘sells,’ ‘calls,’ and ‘puts,’ you can create the strategy you want.
Here’s an example of creating a Put Butterfly on a well-known tech stock.
First, choose the contracts and expiration dates. By switching between buy and sell, you set up both long and short legs.
You will notice that you can’t enter contract quantities yet. That comes later.
After choosing the contracts, go to ‘Custom’ to change the number of contracts for each leg. You can ‘set a unique ratio’ for each part of the position.
In this example, we add one short put to build the butterfly. The profit/loss chart will update to show the expected risk and reward.
When everything looks right, click ‘Continue’ (green button) to go to the order review screen.
Free Robinhood Account
3% deposit match and FREE stock worth up to $200 at Robinhood.
Visit Robinhood Website
Managing Multi Leg Positions
Managing multi-leg options positions is simple, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
Managing may include adding to a position, closing a position, or adjusting the legs in different ways.
The most important factor is how your changes affect the margin requirement. Adding or removing a leg can change how much risk the broker needs to cover.
Robinhood does not allow ‘naked’ options at any level. If you remove a leg, the remaining parts must still be properly covered.
Legging In and Out
Some traders like legging in and out to secure gains and shift into a new spread without closing the full position.
For example, if you buy a call and it becomes profitable, you can sell another call against it to create a debit spread instead of closing the position.
If the price drops, the debit spread will usually lose value slower than a single call would.
You may still keep some upside as well.
Closing the Position
Closing parts of a multi-leg strategy can be limited. The easiest way is to close all the legs at once. You can also close only short legs, which won’t increase margin risk.
Robinhood Multi Leg Options Pros and Cons
Robinhood has greatly improved its options platform. It now supports many advanced strategies, letting traders take a more hands-on approach with opportunities in different market conditions.
There are still areas that could be better. Here are our thoughts on the main pros and cons.
Pros
- Option chains are easy to read
- Choosing contracts is simple
- Profit/loss chart is helpful
- Wide range of multi-leg strategies
Cons
- Trade fills for complex orders can take time
- No naked options allowed
- Manually adding legs takes longer
- Adjusting contract quantities requires an extra step
Robinhood Multi Leg Options Summary
Overall, Robinhood is a very good platform for trading multi-leg options. Its spread trading tools let investors take positions on expensive stocks, manage risk, benefit from market swings, and more. While there’s still room to improve, most options traders will find the features they need to build strategies suited to their goals.
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How to Trade Options Before Earnings or News Release
Picking a simple strategy before earnings can be tricky. Many traders just buy calls or puts; some buy both (a straddle or strangle) hoping a big move in either direction brings profit.
Limited Risk – High Reward
Buying calls or puts limits risk to the premium paid. If an Apple call costs $100, the most you can lose is $100, with room for a larger gain if Apple moves sharply.
The challenge is that demand for options climbs before earnings, driving premiums much higher. Protection buyers and speculators crowd the market, raising prices.
Being the Bookie
Over time, the party taking bets usually wins. Costly options favor sellers. After earnings, demand and premiums drop, so even well-hedged buyers struggle to profit once the “unknown” premium disappears.
The obvious answer is to sell options—but naked selling carries unlimited risk few traders (or brokers) will accept.
Credit Spreads
To capture rich premiums while capping risk, many traders use “bull put credit” or “bear call credit” spreads. Search online for setup details; this guide focuses on squeezing the most profit from those spreads by unwinding them.
Unwound
Once earnings hit and the market digests the news, option prices snap back to normal. Closing the spread then locks in the premium collected before the announcement. It will not work every time, nor make a fortune on its own, but it can succeed often enough to add worthwhile profit.
Updated on 1/5/2026.
Arthur Chachuna is a professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of Brokerage-Review.com.
He has been an avid investor for 25 years, and has a background in both applied math and programming.
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