tastytrade charges $1 per contract to open an options trade and $0 to close it, capped at $10 per leg. Firstrade charges $0 on both sides, every time, no cap needed because there’s nothing to cap. On paper that makes Firstrade the cheaper broker. In practice, which one actually costs you less depends on how many contracts you trade per leg, and which one is a better fit depends on whether you’re selling premium for a living or buying the occasional call.
Key Takeaway
- Firstrade: $0 per contract on open and close, no account minimum, but no paper trading and a lighter charting platform
- tastytrade: $1 to open, $0 to close, capped at $10 per leg, so cost scales with size, built around a dedicated probability and curve-analysis platform for premium sellers
- The crossover point is 10 contracts per leg. Below that, tastytrade’s fee is a few dollars; above it, Firstrade is flatly cheaper
- tastytrade offers paper trading; Firstrade does not
- Firstrade supports English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese across its platform and account support, a real differentiator for bilingual traders
The actual cost comparison
Here’s the math most comparisons skip. tastytrade’s $1-to-open, $0-to-close structure is capped at $10 per leg, which means the fee stops growing once you’re trading 10 or more contracts in a single leg. Firstrade charges exactly $0, regardless of size.
| Contracts per leg | tastytrade cost | Firstrade cost | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 contract | $1.00 | $0.00 | Firstrade |
| 5 contracts | $5.00 | $0.00 | Firstrade |
| 10 contracts | $10.00 (cap hit) | $0.00 | Firstrade |
| 25 contracts | $10.00 (capped) | $0.00 | Firstrade |
Strictly on the invoice, Firstrade wins at every size, full stop (both broker pricing verified as of 2026-10-03 directly against tastytrade.com/pricing and firstrade.com’s official fee schedule). The real question isn’t which fee is lower, it’s whether the platform you’re paying zero dollars at actually lets you do the kind of trading you want to do. For a trader running one-lot verticals occasionally, that gap is a rounding error against the rest of the decision. For a trader managing 20-lot iron condors across a dozen underlyings, it’s real money every month, but tastytrade’s $10/leg cap means that gap tops out and doesn’t keep widening.
What you’re actually paying for at tastytrade
tastytrade isn’t a discount broker that happens to list options. It was built from the ground up (formerly tastyworks) around selling premium: covered calls, cash-secured puts, credit spreads, iron condors, strangles. The platform shows a probability-of-profit (P50) display on every trade ticket before you place it, has a dedicated curve-analysis tool for visualizing how a position’s P&L changes with time and volatility, and supports futures options, which Firstrade does not offer at all.
That specificity shows up in tastytrade’s paper trading account too. New or strategy-testing traders can run a multi-leg iron condor through a full expiration cycle in a simulated account before risking real money. Firstrade has no paper trading account (per its own brokers.json record), which means the only way to learn its interface is to use real funds from the first trade.
What you’re actually paying for at Firstrade
Firstrade’s entire pitch is that options trading shouldn’t cost anything, and it delivers on that literally: $0 per contract, no account minimum, no inactivity fees, confirmed directly against Firstrade’s own fee schedule. The tradeoff is a smaller, more limited charting platform, no futures, and no paper trading. If you’re buying occasional calls or puts, holding to expiration or closing manually, and don’t need position-sizing tools built around premium selling, none of that matters much.
Firstrade also runs a fully bilingual platform, with account opening, trading, and customer support available in English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese. No other broker on Trader Central’s comparison roster matches that. For a trader who wants to manage an account in Chinese rather than English, that’s not a minor convenience, it’s the deciding factor regardless of what either broker charges per contract.
Account minimums and what you can trade
Neither broker requires a minimum deposit to open an account, so cost isn’t a barrier to entry at either one. The difference shows up in product scope. tastytrade supports futures and futures options alongside standard equity and index options, a market Firstrade doesn’t touch at all. Both brokers currently skip fractional shares, so if that matters to your overall account, you’ll need a third broker for that piece regardless of which one you pick for options.
A hypothetical illustrates the fee math cleanly. Say a trader opens a 10-lot iron condor (four legs, 10 contracts each) and lets it expire worthless, the best-case outcome for a credit seller. At tastytrade, each leg hits the $10 opening cap, so four legs cost $40 total to open and $0 to close since all four legs are in-the-money-free structures expiring worthless. At Firstrade, the same 10-lot, four-leg condor costs $0 to open and $0 to close. That’s a real $40 difference on one trade, the kind of gap that adds up fast for someone running this size regularly. It’s also exactly the tradeoff this comparison keeps coming back to: $40 buys the P50 probability display, curve analysis, and paper account tastytrade built around premium selling. Whether that’s worth it depends entirely on whether you’d use those tools.
Who each broker actually fits
tastytrade fits a trader who sells premium regularly, wants a probability display and curve analysis on every ticket, and values practicing a strategy in a paper account before going live. The $1/leg-to-open fee is the cost of that platform, and it caps out at $10/leg so it never spirals on larger positions.
Firstrade fits a cost-sensitive trader who buys or sells options occasionally, doesn’t need futures or advanced curve tools, and wants the lowest possible invoice on every single trade. It’s also the clear choice for anyone who wants to trade in Traditional or Simplified Chinese.
Neither fits a trader who wants free trading and a paper account to test strategies first. That combination doesn’t exist between these two; you pick one or the other.
Bottom Line
Firstrade is cheaper on every invoice, full stop, but tastytrade’s $1-to-open fee buys a platform purpose-built for selling premium, plus a paper account to practice in. If you’re an active premium seller, that $1/contract (capped at $10/leg) is a small price for tools Firstrade doesn’t offer. If you trade occasionally and want to pay nothing, Firstrade’s $0 structure is exactly that, with no catch.
FAQ
Q: Does tastytrade’s $1-to-open fee ever get more expensive than Firstrade’s $0?
A: No. tastytrade’s fee is capped at $10 per leg, so it never exceeds $10 regardless of size. Firstrade’s $0 is always cheaper in absolute terms, but the gap stops growing past 10 contracts per leg.
Q: Can I paper trade at Firstrade before using real money?
A: No. Firstrade does not offer a paper trading account, per its own published account features. tastytrade does.
Q: Does either broker support futures options?
A: tastytrade does. Firstrade does not offer futures trading at all, per its own account documentation.
Q: Is Firstrade available in languages other than English?
A: Yes. Firstrade’s platform, account opening, and customer support are available in English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.
Q: Which broker is better for a beginner testing a multi-leg strategy for the first time?
A: tastytrade, specifically because of its paper trading account. Testing an iron condor or credit spread in a simulated account before risking real capital is a meaningful advantage Firstrade’s $0 fees don’t offset.
For a closer look at how each broker stacks up against others, see our tastytrade vs. Schwab comparison and Interactive Brokers vs. Firstrade comparison, or read the full tastytrade review.
Ready to open an account? tastytrade is purpose-built for active options sellers who want probability tools on every ticket. For a $0-everything approach with no account minimum, Firstrade is the simpler route.