Tastyworks Review 2020

Tastyworks has low trading fees and there is no inactivity fee. On the other hand, you have to pay a withdrawal fee.

How we ranked fees

We ranked Tastyworks' fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

To get things rolling, let's go over some lingo related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees, and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of Tastyworks for each asset class. For example, in the case of stock investing, commissions are the most important fees.

We also compared Tastyworks's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, Degiro and Interactive Brokers. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of Tastyworks alternatives.

To have a clear overview of Tastyworks, let's start with the trading fees.

Tastyworks trading fees

Tastyworks trading fees are low. 

Tastyworks charges $1 per contract for stock options and $2.50 per contract for options on futures for opening a position. Closing a position on options is free of charge. For futures, it charges $1.25 per contract both for opening and closing a trade. Finally, stock trading incurs no commission fee.

Stock fees and ETF fees

Unlike its competitors, Tastyworks charges no stock and ETF commission.

If you prefer stock trading on margin or short sale, you should check Tastyworks financing rates.

A financing rate, or margin rate, is charged when you trade on margin or short a stock. This basically means that you borrow money or stocks from your broker to trade. For this borrowed money/stock you have to pay an interest. This is the financing rate. It can be a significant proportion of your trading costs.

Tastyworks financing rate is volume-tiered. It applies a base rate, and premium or discount depending on the financed amount. The base rate is set by its discretion. At the time of the Tastyworks review, the base rate was 7%.

The financing rates above are also applied for the options and futures trading.

Options fees

Tastyworks options fees are low. They are very similar to its' main competitors pricing.

Futures fees

Tastyworks futures fees are generally low. However, they are still higher than Degiro's and IB's futures fees.

Non-trading fees

Tastyworks has average non-trading fees. It doesn't charge you a general account fee, an inactivity fee, a custody fee, or a deposit fee. On the flipside, Tastyworks' withdrawal fee is quite high: it is $25 for US bank accounts and $45 for non-US bank accounts. ACH withdrawal is free.

The complete list of non-trading fees can be found on Tastyworks’ pricing page.

Tastyworks account opening is user-friendly, fast and fully digital. You can open your account without a required minimum.

Can you open an account?

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Tastyworks accepts customers from multiple countries. You can find the list of eligible countries here. Almost all EU countries, most South and Central American countries, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Turkey are eligible.

What is the minimum deposit at Tastyworks?

The required Tastyworks minimum deposit is $0 for cash accounts. For margin accounts, you need to deposit a minimum of $2000.

Account types

Tastyworks offers two account types for individuals: cash and margin account. With a margin account, you can use leverage, which means that you can borrow money from the broker to trade.

Retirement accounts are available for US citizens. You can choose between a traditional, a self-employed (SEP) and a roth IRA.

You can also open a joint account, where you will share the ownership with another person. 

Finally, Tastyworks offers corporate and trust accounts for legally established US entities.

In our Tastyworks review, we tested the individual margin account, dubbed as "the Work".

How to open your account

Tastyworks account opening is fast and fully digital. For regulatory reasons, US brokers cannot open your account instantly, but Tastyworks account opening is still one of the fastest among US brokers with 1-3 days. At the time of the review, our account was approved after 1 day.

Tastyworks account application takes 10-15 minutes and it's straightforward. You need to provide the following information:

• account type
• personal information
• employer information (name, address, phone number)
• financial knowledge
• name your primary bank
• digital copies of your ID and proof of address.

Tastyworks's deposit and withdrawal could be better. Although there is no deposit fee and it is user-friendly, you can use only bank transfer and the fee for bank transfer withdrawal is high.

Deposit fees and options

Tastyworks deposit is free of charge. However, non-US citizens can only use bank transfer, known as wire transfer in the US banking lingo.

If you are from the US, you can also use

• ACH (automated clearing house)
• Check

We tested the non-US bank transfer and it took 3 business days. You can only deposit money from accounts which are in your name.

Tastyworks withdrawal fees and options

Tastyworks withdrawal costs $45 for non-US clients and $25 for US clients. Withdrawing money can be done in the same way as making deposits, i.e. only wire transfer for non-US citizens, plus ACH and check for US citizens. 

The user interface for withdrawal wire transfer is customer-friendly and easy to use.

How long does it take to withdraw money from Tastyworks? We tested the bank transfer withdrawal and it took more than 3 business days.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from Tastyworks?

• Select the account to withdraw from
• Link your bank account
• Set the transaction date/frequency
• Enter the amount to be withdrawn
• Confirm the withdrawal

Compare to other brokers

The Tastyworks web platform is great for experienced traders, especially if you concentrate on options. On the other hand, it takes time to learn its functionalities, and its customizability is limited.

Tastyworks uses its own trading platform. It is targeted for options and futures traders and stock trading is only a secondary focus.

It is available only in English.

Look and feel

The Tastyworks web trading platform is great for advanced traders, but it is hard to navigate as a beginner. It's a well-designed platform, which can be usable with a bit of practice. It's also equipped with a strong options trading panel, but the platform is not customizable.

Login and security

Tastyworks provides only a one-step login. Enabling a two-step authentication would be safer.

Search functions

The search functions are OK. They are fast and the results are relevant, but it's not obvious which exchange the assets are listed on. Furthermore, there is no filtering option for asset classes.

When you search a non-US stock, it's listed on the drop-down, but the price information does not load and you cannot trade with it.

Placing orders

Tastyworks' order management is a bit complicated but it has great functions. It is primarily for options trading, but can also be used for stock trading. You will find three different order panels, two for options trading and one for stock trading.

The stock trading panel is mid-range with four order types:

• market
• limit
• stop limit
• stop market

To get a better understanding of these terms, read this overview of order types.

There are also order time limits you can use: Good 'til cancelled (GTC) and Good 'til date (GTD).

For the options trading, you have two views: the standard option chain, called 'table', and a unique visual trading interface, called a 'curve'.

With both views, you can add a lot of predefined strategies:

• Vertical
• Strangle
• Straddle
• Option
• Iron condor
• Covered stock
• Butterfly
• Jade lizard
• Calendar

It looks very complicated for the first but its a very functional platform once you get the hang of it. For example, a list of predefined option strategies are available, so opening an iron condor can take only two clicks.

You can also drag and drop the different option orders and easily edit the default parameters. We think this is one of the biggest selling points of the platform.

Alerts and notifications

It is easy to set up price alerts and order notifications. You can set up alerts for each asset for price and IV level. You can also set up email and push notifications, and text messages as well if you are in the US.

There is a great watchlist called 'Grid'. You can have an overview of a wide range of assets in one place. All selected stocks have a well organized mini infographic with some fundamental data. This is also tailored for options trading, as the most visible data points are implied volatility ranks.

Portfolio and fee reports

The portfolio report is well structured. Its default setting is options trading focused by showing delta and theta values. On the other hand, the columns of the table can be easily customized.

The fee report is also clear. Both the portfolio and fee report can be exported to a CSV.

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Tastyworks's mobile platform is very similar to its web platform. It is well-organized but feels complicated. It lacks price alerts and a two-step login.

The Tastyworks mobile platform is very similar to the web platform and shares its major functionalities.

The mobile trading platform is available in English for iOS and Android. We tested it on iOS.

Look and feel

The Tastyworks mobile trading platform is user-friendly and it has a neat and modern design.

Login and security

Tastyworks provides only a one-step login. Having a two-step authentication would be safer.

You can log in using biometric authentication.

Search functions

The search functions are OK. Similar to the web platform, you can search based on the ticker of the asset you are looking for but you cannot set up filters for asset types.

Placing orders

The trade function is a bit different to the web platform but it's intuitive. You can choose between a table, curve or stock mode. This makes the stock trading easier to manage.

You can choose the same order types and terms as on the web platform.

Alerts and notifications

You cannot set price alerts and order notifications on the Tastyworks mobile platform. This is a major drawback.

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The desktop platform is very similar to the web trading platform and has extra functionalities, such as a good customizability. On the other hand, there is no two-step login here either, and it is not beginner-friendly.

You can download the desktop trading platform for OSX, Windows and Linux. It's only available in English.

Look and feel

The Tastyworks desktop trading platform is OK. Similar to the web platform, it is quite complicated and it takes some time to figure out where things are. However, it's more intuitive and there are more customizability options.

Login and security

Tastyworks provides only a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be safer.

Search functions

The search functions are OK. Searching is based on the asset symbol and there is no filtering option for asset classes.

Placing orders

You can place orders in the same way as on the web platform.

Alerts and notifications

You can set price alerts and order notifications on the desktop trading platform in the same way as on the web platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

You can access clear portfolio and fee reports on the desktop platform as well.

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At Tastyworks you can trade with US stocks, ETFs, options and some futures.

Tastyworks offers stocks, options, ETFs and futures. It only covers US markets. We found little information on the exact number of tradable products. 

Overall, Tastyworks markets and product range is narrower than its competitors. 

Social trading

Tastyworks offers a social trading service. You can follow and copy the trades of the Tastyworks' team members. The guys are really active, so you will never struggle with not having trading ideas.

Tastyworks's research tools include a great charting tool on the desktop platform, trading ideas and a high-quality news flow. On the other hand, it is very options-focused and there is limited fundamental data available.

Trading ideas

As mentioned before, Tastyworks provides a social trading feature where you can borrow ideas from their team members. This is not explicit investment advice, but it can be useful for trading ideas.

Fundamental data

There are useful indicators for options, like the greeks, implied volatility, Tastyworks’ proprietary IV rank, or the correlation matrix with stocks and indices.

You will find only very basic fundamental data for stocks, like P/E or dividend yield.

Charting

Tastyworks has a very complicated and great charting tool on its desktop platform. You can use over 100 technical indicators, and the chart is interactive.

News feed

Tastyworks provides news through its educational platform, Tastytrade. Here you have access to a wide range of very useful options and futures trading content, as well as to live news coverage. 

The Tastytrade team runs a live trading show throughout the whole trading time each weekday. This is pretty awesome.

Compare research pros and cons

Tastyworks's customer support is great, you can reach them via email and phone and they will give you relevant answers. On the negative side, there is no 24/7 availability and no live chat.

You can contact Tastyworks via:

• telephone
• email

Tastyworks phone support was fast and we got relevant answers. The only downside is that they are available to contact only on weekdays between 7am-5pm (GMT-6). 

Via email, we got relevant answers within minutes of sending our questions. Tastyworks' email support is available 24/5. 

Overall, the customer support is amazing: they give fast and relevant answers. However, we missed the live chat.

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Tastyworks has superb educational materials on options trading on the Tastytrade platform. On the other hand, there is no demo account.

At Tastyworks you can learn in the following ways:

• Platform tutorial videos
• General educational videos
• Webinars
• Quality educational articles

Tastyworks's educational material is available through its education-specific platform, Tastytrade. Here, you can build up your options trading knowledge from scratch. Their videos have really good quality and are also enjoyable. It is a big plus when you are consuming financial content.

Alongside videos, you can also read high-quality articles and attend webinars on the nitty-gritty of trading with Tastyworks products. 

The platform is free to use and if you register you can also get access to much more research and market insight content. 

The only issue with Tastyworks's education is the lack of a demo account. As their platform is complicated, this would be a great tool for practice.

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Tastyworks is regulated by FINRA, a top-tier US regulator, which provides a high level of investor protection. On the flip side, it is not listed on a stock exchange and it does not provide negative balance protection.

Is Tastyworks regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the National Futures Association.

Is Tastyworks safe?

To be certain, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• what the background of the broker is

How you are protected

tastywork covers all customers by one US legal entity which is regulated by FINRA.

This matters because this case you get the US investor protection amount via SIPC, the protection fund. This is a big plus. It protects you against the loss of cash and securities in case the broker goes bust. The limit of SIPC protection is $500,000, which includes a $250,000 limit for cash.

A non-US citizen with Tastyworks is treated in the same way as a US resident in case something goes south. The $500,000 ($250,000) is a substantially higher amount than most European investor protection schemes.

Not all investments are protected by SIPC. In general, SIPC covers notes, stocks, bonds, mutual fund and other investment company shares, and other registered securities. It does not cover instruments such as unregistered investment contracts, unregistered limited partnerships, fixed annuity contracts, currency, and interests in gold, silver, or other commodity futures contracts or commodity options.

However, Tastyworks does not provide negative balance protection.

Background

Tastyworks was established in 2017. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises. Nevertheless, Tastyworks is still quite young.

Find your safe broker

Tastyworks is an excellent broker for options trading, but it is a bit complicated if you want to trade stocks only.  

Tastyworks is a US broker, hence its investor protection scheme is excellent. Trading fees are low, with free stock and average options trading fees. Its trading platform is aimed at experienced options traders, it can be intimidating for starters. However, its educational and research tools are great for learning. The deposit and withdrawal processes could be better and a demo account would be also great for practicing purposes.

As there is no minimum deposit, no inactivity or monthly fee, and the account opening is seamless, feel free to try it.

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