Help me decide broker

[Guest Cashflows]

I have been practicing paper trading TOS for about 6 months so feel very confident in that platform. I my rate is $1.50 per contract currently negotiated. I am wondering when I go live if I would be better off with Interactive Brokers, TOS or Tastyworks? I will be using a $10k IRA account if that makes any differences. I also use an iPhone so being able to get an alert on it and close a trade if needed is a nice bonus. I will be trading options exclusively any advice is appreciated.

[Kim 7,482]

@CashflowsIn my opinion, 1.50/contract is way too much. I don't see why would anyone pay that much withTOS when there are so many good options available today. IB and TW are both good options. The following topics might help:

Brokers and commissions 
Tradier Brokerage Special Offer 
Trading and getting fills with Interactive Brokers
Tastyworks A New Brokerage Firm 

[PGAmbrosio 53]

The TOS platform is really good but their commission are expensive.  I used TOS a lot when I first started trading options and I got used to using their "Analyze" tab, maybe relied on it too much.  I am now using Tastyworks and while I think TOS is still much better, TW is not bad and they have rolled out some good features.  The now have an Analysis feature which is decent (but I still think it plots calendar risk graph different/wrong).  They also have a usable mobile app for iOS and Android.  

 

I'm also in the process of setting up a Tradier account and plan to try out ONE and Tradehawk.  After a month of SteadyOptions, I just couldn't ignore the $40/mo for unlimited options trading.  But I'd also want some type of platform for trade execution and analysis which would tack on another $30-60/mo.  Still not bad depending on your volume.

 

[aldem 9]

I agree with both @Kim - too expensive, and @PGAmbrosio - really good. My negotiated rate with TOS is now $0.50/contract + $4.99 ticket charge - much better than standard but still too much. I currently have accounts with Tradier and Robinhood. Robinhood is free with a decent mobile app, but it doesn't allow to place multi-legged option trades. Tradier's biggest drawback is that it doesn't have any decent mobile apps at all, the web interface is very basic, but you can build multi-legged trades there. With the 10K account the $40 is probably the best deal, but if you trade less that official trades (e.g. you can't get fills), a $0.35/contract could be a better deal. While the TOS is great, I think for those of us who are new to trading more complex multi-legged setups, having to build the trade manually has some educational benefit...At the end of the day, you can keep both and use TOS for analysis and place trades in Tradier.