Firstrade fees explained

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Overview of Firstrade fees and charges

When trading or investing at an online broker, fees can have a big impact on your results, so it's good to know what kind of charges you'll be facing and how these compare to fees at other brokers.

If fees are your top concern, Firstrade is a good choice, as it has low fees in general. Check our toplist for cheaper brokers.

I found Firstrade's trading fees fairly low

Adam Nasli

Regulation • Fighting Scams • Market Analysis

I've personally tested dozens of global brokers, carefully looking at their fees not just on their website but also in the course of live trading. Here's how Firstrade fared:

Firstrade charges low fees for trading stocks and ETFs.
There is no inactivity fee even if you leave your account idle for a long time.
The basic withdrawal fee is $0, but some transactions may cost more.
Read our full review of Firstrade for info on safety, trading platforms and funding.

Firstrade fees at a glance
Assets	Fee level	Fee terms
US stock fee	Low	$0 per trade
EURUSD fee	-	FX not available
US tech fund fee	Low	$0 per trade
Inactivity fee	Low	No inactivity fee

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Commission-free stock and ETF trading

Firstrade stock and ETF fees by market
	Firstrade Firstrade	TradeStation TradeStation	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
US stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	$0.0 $0 per trade	$5.0 $5 per trade for non-US clients. For US clients, commission-free up to the first 10,000 shares per trade.	$1.0 Fixed pricing: $0.005 per share, min. $1, max. 1% of trade value. Free for US clients choosing IBKR Lite plan.

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Stock Fee Calculator

Confused about fees? Use this tool to see what the commission fee of a specific stock trade would be at Firstrade. To check and compare fees at other brokers, go to our main Fee calculator page.

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High margin rates

Firstrade annual margin rates
	Firstrade Firstrade	TradeStation TradeStation	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
USD margin rate	11.5% Base rate + tiered markup. Markup is 0-25k: +1.75%.	12.8% For positions less than $50,000: 12.75% per year	6.1% Tiered margin rate. Lowest tier has a rate of 6.08% at IBKR PRO (7.08% at IBKR Lite)

Firstrade's margin rates are volume-tiered. There is a base rate plus a premium depending on the financed amount. The base rate is set at Firstrade's discretion. At the time of our review, the base rate was 12.00%. Financing rates are also applied for options trading, not just stocks.

Firstrade - annual margin rate tiers (as of December 5, 2023)
Debit balance	Rate%	Base rate + / -
$0 - $24,999	13.75%	Base rate + 1.75%
$25,000 - $49,999	13.50%	Base rate + 1.50%
$50,000 - $99,999	13.00%	Base rate + 1.00%
$100,000 - $249,999	12.50%	Base rate + 0.50%
$250,000 - $499,999	12.25%	Base rate + 0.25%
$500,000 - $999,999	10.35%	Base rate - 1.65%
$1,000,000 or more	9.75%	Base rate - 2.25%

Low options commission

Firstrade stock index options commission
	Firstrade Firstrade	TradeStation TradeStation	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
US stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$0.0 $0 per trade	$15.0 For US clients: $1 per contract; for non-US clients: $5 flat fee plus $1 per contract	$6.5 Less than 10,000 contract per month and for a 10 contracts trade: $0.65 per contract with $1 min

No inactivity fee, no withdrawal fee

There is no account fee or inactivity fee. There is no withdrawal fee if you use ACH transfer. However, withdrawals using domestic or international wire transfers cost $25. We tested ACH, so we paid no withdrawal fee.

Firstrade inactivity, withdrawal and other fees
Broker	Inactivity fee	Withdrawal fee
Firstrade		$0
TradeStation		$0
Interactive Brokers		$0

Other commissions and fees

You can find Firstrade's fees for other asset classes below. Click 'Show more' for details.

Low mutual fund commission

Fees for a $2,000 fund purchase
	Firstrade Firstrade	TradeStation TradeStation	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
Mutual fund Estimated commission of a $2,000 US domiciled fund trade	$0.0 $0 per trade	$15.0 $14.95 per transaction	$15.0 $14.95 per transaction or 3% of trade value, whichever is lower. There are also more than 18,000 funds with no transaction fee

Low bond commission

Firstrade's bond fees also depend on the type of bonds you wish to trade. Treasury bills, notes, bonds, municipal bonds, agency bonds, zeros & strips are free, but the charges are net yield based. We tested "regular" treasury bonds.

Fees for a $10,000 bond trade
	Firstrade Firstrade	TradeStation TradeStation	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
US Treasury bond Estimated commission of a $10,000 US treasury bond trade	$0.0 Net Yield Basis for treasury, corporate, municipal, agencies, secondary CDs and zero bonds and $30 min for primary CD. Net Yield Basis means Firstrade acts as principal whereby the bonds will be subject to a markup or markdown.	$50.0 $50 per trade	$5.0 For the first $1,000,000 face value: 0.002% of trade value with $5 min.

Interest on uninvested cash

Firstrade pays a 0.3% interest on uninvested USD.

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Everything you find on BrokerChooser is based on reliable data and unbiased information. We combine our 10+ years finance experience with readers feedback. Read more about our methodology.