Firstrade Review: A Truly Fee-Free Options Trading Platform

Firstrade is an online brokerage known for its fee-free options trading. But it offers much more than that. 

Investors have access to zero-commission stocks and ETFs listed on the major U.S. exchanges, thousands of mutual funds, and fixed-income products. 

Find out how Firstrade compares with larger, better-known brokerages like Robinhood and Fidelity.

What Is Firstrade?

New York-based Firstrade is an online brokerage offering a wide range of investments. Firstrade began in 1985 as First Flushing Securities and was one of the early brokerages to move online, launching Firstrade.com in 1997. 

What Do They Offer?

Firstrade provides an easy-to-use platform for trading stocks, bonds, ETFs, options, mutual funds, and fixed income. You can trade through its web platform or mobile app. Notable features include:

• Commission-free trading
• A robust Education Center includes Investment education videos
• Phone support
• Extended Trading hours
• Ability to short stocks
• News sources from Benzinga, Morning Star, Zacks, and Briefing.com
• AI-powered investment research with FirstradeGPT

New! AI-Powered Research From FirstradeGPT

Firstrade recently rolled out a Beta-version of its new AI-powered research and analytics assistant, known as FirstradeGPT. It uses a variety of LLMs to deliver financial research, educational resources, and market insights to investors. At the moment, all Firstrade clients get full access for free, though this may change in the future. 

Free Options Trading

Some platforms like to say their options are commission-free but then charge a per-contract fee. Charging $0.65 per contract seems to be the most common. So if you bought five contracts, you’d pay a fee of $3.25. 

But at Firstrade, in addition to charging no commissions on options, there are no per-contract fees. It also doesn’t charge any exchange, exercise, or assignment fees.

Firstrade provides one of the best options trading platforms available. Unlike some brokers, they didn’t cut anything out on their options tools to make up for commission-free options trading.

Even the mobile app provides access to options chains. The platform is also integrated with OptionsPlay, which offers options trade ideas and helps you better analyze your own options trades.

It should be noted that some options trades do require margin. These trades will also have minimum equity requirements, as shown below.

Account Types

In addition to taxable accounts, Firstrade is available for the following retirement accounts:

• Taxable accounts
• Traditional IRA
• Roth IRA
• Rollover IRA
• SEP IRA
• SIMPLE IRA

Firstrade also offers Coverdell ESAs and custodial accounts for parents who would like to open an account to save for their child’s education or other financial goals.

Depositing Money Into Your Account

Firstrade provides three ways for depositing money into your account:

• Wire: fastest and most costly.
• ACH: 2-3 days and free.
• Check: Slowest

Firstrade doesn’t charge fees for incoming wires, but your bank most likely will charge on its end. Wire fees are typically around $25. However, if you need to get money into your account on the same day, this is the only way to do it.

ACH must first be set up through two deposits from Firstrade. Once that’s done, each transfer will take 2-3 days.

Checks will be the slowest form of deposit since you have to mail them in. There’s also a chance a check could get lost. Cashier’s/bank checks will be available immediately, but most banks charge a fee to issue them. 

Personal checks will be available on the 5th business day of deposit. New deposits will be held for ten business days, and you cannot withdraw funds during this period.

Education Center

Firstrade offers a ton of first-rate educational content for beginners to advanced traders. They provide both video and text tutorials. Some of their videos provide market commentary while others are step-by-step walk-throughs of the platform.

Extended Trading Hours

Firstrade allows you to trade after hours, based on the following schedule: 

• 8am – 8pm, Monday – Friday,
• Overnight sessions from 8pm – 4am ET, Sunday – Friday.

Mobile App

Firstrade’s mobile app has everything you need for trading on the go, including the following features: 

• Zero-commission stock/ETFs, Options, and mutual fund trades 
• Zero options contract fees
• Real-time quotes 
• Company profiles 
• Historical charts
• Fractional share trading ($5 minimum) 
• Extended hours trading

In addition to executing and managing trades, there’s a research section. It includes the following for each stock being researched:

• Overview
• News
• Events

The mobile app even has graphs that can be adjusted to fit different time frames. It’s available for both iOS and Android.

Are There Any Fees?

Firstrade doesn’t charge commissions on stock, ETF, options, or mutual fund trades. There are also no monthly or annual account fees. There are fees for other services, which are laid out on its website pricing page. 

How Does Firstrade Compare

Firstrade is an excellent choice for fee-conscious options traders and feels more like a traditional brokerage than Robinhood, providing better research tools and customer support. But it falls short of full-service brokerages like Fidelity, which offer a more powerful trading platform, a wider range of investment options, and wealth management services. 

How Do I Open An Account?

You can open a Firstrade account within a few minutes via its website or mobile app. Once your account is open, you can link a U.S. bank account and deposit funds via ACH transfer. There is also no minimum deposit requirement.

Is My Money Safe?

Yes – deposits are FDIC-insured up to $250,000 per depositor and investments are SIPC-insured up to $500,000. Firstrade’s clearing firm, Apex Clearing Corporation, has also purchased an additional insurance policy that provides extra protection for up to an aggregate limit of $150 million.

Is It Worth It?

For those who are comfortable executing their own trades and doing research without assistance, Firstrade’s platform provides excellent value for the price. Compared to Robinhood, Firstrade offers better analytical tools, educational material, and customer support

Just know that Firstrade is a fully DIY platform. There are no human financial advisors or robo-advisors available to help you manage your portfolio. If you’re looking for wealth management options in addition to commission-fee trading, you may want to consider one of the full-service discount stock brokers, such as E*Trade or Fidelity. 

Firstrade Features