Intro
See how Interactive Brokers stacks up against tastyworks!
While the overall rating of Interactive Brokers is higher than that of tastyworks (4.9 vs 4.6), there are numerous areas where tastyworks comes out on top in a direct comparison. The final conclusion as to which broker is better for you depends on your invesment goals and style, as well as other personal preferences. We are here to bring some more clarity to this comparison to help you with this decision.
Overall, our experts rated the trading platform of Interactive Brokers as being of the same quality as the platform of tastyworks, found that clients have access to more markets and products with Interactive Brokers, while tastyworks provides somewhat better research and education.
How Interactive Brokers compares to tastyworks
Let's start on a positive note. Both companies are known for their low trading fees as well as high-quality and easy-to-use research tools. The latter is perfect for deep-diving into all the data available on their platform, without having to visit too many external sites.
And now the bad news. During our review, we found that
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the account opening process is much slower at Interactive Brokers, while tastyworks approved our account after 1 day
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tastyworks deposit options are more limited compared to Interactive Brokers, especially for US residents. If you reside in the US, with IBKR you can use. ACH, check, and online bill payment (plus direct rollover and trustee-to-trustee transfers for IRA accounts), while at tastyworks, only check and ACH are available.
| tastyworks | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 4.6 | 4.9 |
| Overall pros |
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| Overall cons |
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| Fees score | 4.3 stars | 4.5 stars |
| Account opening score | 5.0 stars | 3.2 stars |
| Deposit and withdrawal score | 1.9 stars | 3.0 stars |
| Web platform score | 3.4 stars | 4.0 stars |
| Mobile platform score | 4.2 stars | 3.5 stars |
| Desktop platform score | 3.9 stars | 3.8 stars |
| Markets and products score | 3.1 stars | 5.0 stars |
| Research score | 5.0 stars | 4.3 stars |
| Customer service score | 5.0 stars | 3.4 stars |
| Education score | 4.5 stars | 4.5 stars |
| Safety |
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| Recommended for | Options and futures traders focusing on US markets | Traders looking for broad market access and a professional trading environment |
Let’s dive deeper into some of the main dimensions we deem important for retail traders: fees, trading platforms and customer service.
Interactive Brokers fees compared to tastyworks fees
Low trading fees, free stock and ETF trading for US clients as well as low margin rates are the big upsides of Interactive Brokers. tastyworks also provides free stock and ETF trading and charges no inactivity fees, however, margin rates are higher than at IB.
IB and tastyworks trading platforms
Both tastyworks and IBKR provide safe login options, price alerts and clear fee reports on their trading platforms.
On the negative side, neither platform is ideal for beginners, especially on desktop. On the Interactive Brokers mobile trading platform, we experienced some minor technical glitches, while the web platform of tastyworks lacks customizability.
Customer service at IB and tastyworks
Customer support at Interactive Brokers and tastyworks is available on the phone and they provide relevant answers. While we can’t say anything negative about tastyworks' customer support (score of 5.0), we found Interactive Brokers' customer service slow at times.
-> Back to tastyworks review for 2022
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