Public.com pays you to trade options. Robinhood charges you nothing to trade options. Those sound like the same pitch, but they are not, and the difference only shows up once you trade enough volume for it to matter.
- Public.com charges $0 commission AND $0 per-contract fee on stock/ETF options, then pays a volume-tiered rebate of $0.06 to $0.18 per contract on top of that.
- Robinhood charges $0 commission and $0 per-contract fee, full stop. No rebate either direction.
- Public’s rebate only becomes meaningful at real volume. Below roughly 50 contracts a month, the two brokers are functionally identical on cost.
- Public’s index options (SPX, NDX, VIX, CBTX) are NOT rebated and cost $0.35 to $0.50 per contract, a real expense that a surface-level “both are free” comparison misses.
- Both brokers have $0 account minimums and support fractional shares; neither offers a paper-trading demo account for options.
The Core Difference: Rebate vs. Zero
Robinhood’s model is simple: no commission, no per-contract fee, no rebate. You place a trade, you pay nothing, the broker makes its money elsewhere (payment for order flow, Robinhood Gold subscriptions, interest on cash balances).
Public.com’s model does something Robinhood structurally cannot match: it pays the trader a per-contract rebate on stock and ETF options, tiered by monthly volume, per verified data from data/brokers.json (last verified 2026-08-27):
| Monthly contract volume | Public.com rebate per contract |
|---|---|
| 0-999 contracts | $0.06 |
| 1,000-4,999 contracts | $0.10 |
| 5,000-9,999 contracts | $0.14 |
| 10,000+ contracts | $0.18 |
API traders and traders working SPY, QQQ, and IWM options fall into a separate $0.06 to $0.10 band. Robinhood has no equivalent column, because there is nothing to rebate. Its options_per_contract fee is $0.00 across the board (data/brokers.json, last verified 2026-08-06).
Where the Rebate Actually Matters
Here is a hypothetical to make the math concrete, clearly not a trade recommendation, just an illustration of the fee mechanics. A trader running 1,200 stock/ETF option contracts a month sits in Public’s 1,000-4,999 tier, earning $0.10 per contract. That’s $120 a month, or roughly $1,440 a year, paid back to the trader simply for routing volume through Public instead of a $0-and-$0 broker like Robinhood.
Scale that down to a trader doing 30 contracts a month, closer to a casual premium seller running a handful of cash-secured puts or covered calls, and the rebate comes to $1.80 to $1.98 a month. At that volume, the “which broker is cheaper” question has no real answer: both are effectively free, and the rebate is not worth choosing a platform over.
The practical line is around 50 contracts a month. Below it, Public’s rebate is background noise. Above it, and especially once a trader crosses into the 1,000+ contract tiers, the rebate becomes a real, recurring credit that a flat $0 broker cannot offer at any volume.
The Part Most Comparisons Skip: Index Options
A side-by-side that only checks the equity-options fee misses where Public.com actually charges money. SPX, NDX, VIX, and CBTX options at Public are priced separately from the rebate program, at $0.35 to $0.50 per contract, per verified brokers.json data. That’s a straightforward per-contract cost, not a rebate, and it applies whether you’re trading one contract or a thousand.
For a trader whose strategy leans on index options, cash-settled SPX iron condors or VIX hedges, for example, that $0.35-$0.50 per contract is the number that matters, not the equity-options rebate headline. Robinhood, by contrast, charges nothing on index options either, the same flat $0 that applies across its entire options menu.
This is the honest tradeoff: Public.com is structurally better for high-volume equity/ETF options traders and structurally worse (or at least not free) for index-options traders, while Robinhood is flat and predictable across both.
Platform Depth: Rebate Model vs. Simplicity
Neither broker is built around advanced charting or institutional-grade tools, and traders who need thinkorswim-level analytics should look elsewhere. The real platform difference is what each broker leans on to differentiate itself.
Robinhood Gold, a $5/month add-on, unlocks Level 2 market data and a higher APY on uninvested cash. It’s a straightforward upsell on top of the free base experience. Public’s differentiator isn’t a paid tier, it’s the rebate model itself, plus fractional shares support, which both brokers offer at a $0 account minimum.
Neither broker currently offers a live paper-trading or demo account for options, so new traders on either platform should size positions conservatively while they learn order-entry mechanics, particularly for multi-leg spreads where a fat-fingered leg is more costly than on a single-leg order.
Side-by-Side: Public.com vs. Robinhood for Options
| Feature | Public.com | Robinhood |
|---|---|---|
| Stock/ETF options commission | $0 | $0 |
| Stock/ETF options per-contract fee | $0, plus rebate ($0.06-$0.18/contract, volume-tiered) | $0 |
| Index options (SPX/NDX/VIX/CBTX) | $0.35-$0.50/contract, not rebated | $0 |
| Account minimum | $0 | $0 |
| Fractional shares | Yes | Yes |
| Paper trading (options) | No | No |
| Notable paid tier | None (rebate is the differentiator) | Robinhood Gold, $5/mo (Level 2 data, higher cash APY) |
Who Each Broker Actually Fits
Public.com fits a trader who already runs meaningful monthly options volume, particularly in equity and ETF names, and wants that volume to generate a recurring credit rather than just cost nothing. It’s a weaker fit for anyone whose strategy centers on SPX, NDX, or VIX options, where the per-contract charge applies with no offsetting rebate.
Robinhood fits a trader who wants one flat, predictable number (zero) across every product, without needing to track which tier or which underlying they’re trading in to know what something costs. It’s also the more familiar on-ramp for someone opening their first options-approved account, given its name recognition and Robinhood Gold’s optional data upgrade path.
Neither broker is “better” outright. This is a decision matrix by trading style and volume, not a verdict.
Robinhood is the simpler starting point if you’re newer to options or trade low volume. For active, higher-volume equity and ETF options traders, Public.com’s rebate program is worth running the math on directly against your own monthly contract count.
Bottom Line
Public.com’s rebate turns high-volume equity/ETF options trading into a net-positive-fee activity that a flat $0 broker structurally cannot match, but it charges real per-contract fees on index options that a “both are free” headline comparison would miss. Robinhood stays flat and predictable everywhere. Run your own monthly contract count against Public’s tiers before assuming the rebate is worth switching for.
FAQ
Q: Does Public.com really pay you to trade options?
A: Yes, on stock and ETF options specifically. Public pays a volume-tiered rebate of $0.06 to $0.18 per contract instead of charging a per-contract fee. Index options like SPX and VIX are priced separately at $0.35-$0.50 per contract and are not rebated.
Q: Is Robinhood or Public.com cheaper for options trading?
A: For low-volume traders (under roughly 50 contracts a month), they’re effectively identical: both charge $0 commission and $0 per-contract fee on stock/ETF options. Above that volume, Public’s rebate starts putting money back in your account that Robinhood cannot match.
Q: Which broker is better for SPX or VIX options?
A: Robinhood, on cost alone. Public.com charges $0.35-$0.50 per contract on index options with no rebate offsetting it, while Robinhood’s $0 pricing applies across its entire options menu including index products.
Q: Do Public.com or Robinhood offer options paper trading?
A: No. Neither broker currently offers a live demo/paper-trading environment for options. Traders wanting to rehearse multi-leg order entry before using real money should look at brokers that do offer it, such as Schwab’s thinkorswim or Webull.
Q: What’s the account minimum for either broker?
A: Both Public.com and Robinhood have a $0 account minimum for options trading, and both support fractional shares.