Options trading platforms: the per-contract rate, and the three fees underneath it
Published options commissions at the large US brokers, side by side, plus the clearing and regulatory fees that sit under every one of them and appear on no comparison table.
Options pricing at US brokers has converged on one number, and the number is not where the difference sits. Published rates, read from each firm’s own pricing page on 20 August 2026:
| Equity trades online | Options, per contract | Broker-assisted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Schwab | $0 | $0.65 | $0.65 per contract + $25 |
| IBKR Lite | $0 | $0.65 | n/a |
| IBKR Pro, tiered, ≤10,000/mo | $0.005 per share, $1 min | from $0.25 | n/a |
Two of the three quote the same $0.65. That is the industry’s settled retail rate, and any comparison that stops here has compared nothing.
The fees under the rate
IBKR publishes what everyone pays and almost nobody prints:
- OCC clearing fee: $0.025 per contract, charged on every options trade at every US broker
- FINRA Consolidated Audit Trail: $0.0003 per contract
- Exchange fees, which vary by venue and by whether your order adds or removes liquidity
These are pass-throughs, not broker margin. They exist at Schwab too. The difference is that one firm lists them line by line and the other folds them into the experience.
That matters when you compare a $0.65 flat rate against a $0.25 tiered rate: the tiered schedule quotes a lower commission and adds these separately, so the two numbers are not the same kind of number. IBKR says as much on the page.
The $25 that decides more than the $0.65
Schwab’s broker-assisted options trade is $0.65 per contract plus a $25 service charge. On a single contract that turns a 65-cent trade into $25.65, a multiple of thirty-nine.
Nobody plans to call the desk. People call the desk when a platform is down, when an assignment needs sorting, or when a spread will not close in the app. Those are exactly the moments when the fee lands, and they are also the moments when the platform’s reliability is what you are really buying.
What the rate does not cover
Assignment and exercise. Fees and handling differ, and they are the difference between a clean expiry and a Monday morning surprise.
Multi-leg pricing. A four-leg spread is four contracts each way. At $0.65 that is $5.20 round trip before anything moves, and the per-contract rate is the whole story only for single-leg trades.
Market data entitlements. Options quotes with depth are a subscription at most brokers, and the cost lands monthly whether you trade or not. We covered the same structural point for futures platforms in NinjaTrader’s fees.
Execution. The largest number in options trading is the spread you cross, not the commission you pay, and it appears on no pricing page. For how routing decides that, see Interactive Brokers pricing.
How to compare in five minutes
Take the trade you actually place most often, with its real leg count. Multiply the per-contract rate by total contracts across all legs, both directions. Add $0.025 per contract for clearing. Then add the data subscription divided by your monthly trade count.
That number is comparable across brokers. The headline rate is not, because two of them publish the same one.
What we checked, and what we didn’t
Rates come from Schwab’s pricing page and IBKR’s options commissions page, read on 20 August 2026. The OCC and FINRA figures are as published by IBKR in its fee schedule.
We have not opened accounts, placed options trades, or measured fills or assignment handling at either firm. Exchange fees vary by venue and order type and we have not tabulated them, because they depend on where your order goes rather than who your broker is.