tastytrade vs. Robinhood: A Comparative Analysis

In the realm of online brokerages, two platforms have captured significant attention: tastytrade, formerly known as tastyworks, and Robinhood. Each offers unique advantages and caters to different kinds of investors.

Let's dive into the details and explore which one could be your go-to platform.

tastytrade vs. Robinhood Main Features Compared

Founded by the creators of thinkorswim, tastytrade was born out of a passion for trading. It is simple to use while still remaining advanced enough for traders of all skill levels. You can also access the tastylive network, which is a live stream of financial news and entertainment.

Robinhood is an extremely simplistic platform that is not great for short-term traders. It is designed to make investing easy and accessible for everyone, especially beginners and millennials.

Pros of tastytrade:

Commission-free stock and ETF trades.
Real-time quotes.
Advanced charting, allowing for in-depth analysis.
Crypto trading ability.
Futures and futures options trading ability.
Index options trading.

Pros of Robinhood:

Commission-free stock and ETF trades.
User-friendly interface, making it easier for beginners to navigate.
Crypto trading abaility.

tastytrade vs. Robinhood Assets Offered

tastytrade Assets Offered

tastytrade offers a wide range of assets to trade on its platform, including:

Stocks: You can trade U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs with no commissions or fees.
Options: You can trade options on stocks and ETFs. You can also trade complex options strategies with up to four legs.
Futures: You can trade futures contracts on various underlying assets, such as indices, commodities, currencies, metals, energies, and more. You can also trade options on futures contracts.
Cryptocurrencies: You can trade cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and more.
Small Exchange Futures: You can trade futures contracts on the Small Exchange, which is a new exchange that offers standardized and simplified products that are accessible to retail traders.

Robinhood Assets Offered

Robinhood does not offer nearly as many assets as tastytrade since it is built for simplicity. The assets that you can trade on Robinhood are:

Stocks: You can trade U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs with no commissions or fees.
Options: You can trade options on stocks and ETFs with no commissions or fees. You can also trade complex options strategies with up to four legs.
Cryptocurrencies: You can trade cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and more with no commissions or fees.

tastytrade vs. Robinhood Commissions & Fees

As mentioned earlier, both tastytrade and Robinhood offer commission-free stock trading. However, there are some differences in the fees that they charge for other types of investments.

tastytrade Fees

tastytrade offers some of the lowest fees out of all brokers for options and futures trading. Here are the main fees that you need to know:

Options: $1 per contract (opening trades only), up to $10 per order.
Futures: $1.25 per contract (per side).
Cryptocurrencies: 1% fee (per side), up to $10 per order.

You can check more details about the tastytrade fees in our tastytrade Fees article.

Robinhood Fees

Robinhood does not charge commissions or fees for most of its services. However, there are some other fees that you should be aware of:

Regulatory Transaction Fee: This fee is intended to cover the costs incurred by the government for supervising and regulating the securities markets and securities professionals. The rate is subject to annual and mid-year adjustments by the SEC.
Trading Activity Fee: This fee is charged by FINRA to cover the costs of regulating the trading activity of its members. The rate is $0.000119 per share for each sale of a covered equity security, with a minimum charge of $0.01 and a maximum charge of $5.95 per trade.
ADR Fee: This fee is charged by the bank that custodies the foreign shares represented by the ADR. The rate varies depending on the ADR issuer and is typically between $0.01 and $0.03 per share.

You can check more details about the Robinhood fees in our Robinhood ETF fees article.

tastytrade vs. Robinhood Available Account Types

Both tastytrade and Robinhood offer various account types to suit your needs and preferences. Here are the main account types that you can choose from:

tastytrade Account Types

tastytrade offers these standard brokerage accounts:

Individual: This is a standard account for one person.
Tenants in Common (TIC) Joint: This is a joint account for two or more people who share ownership of the account assets.
Joint with Rights of Survivorship: This is a joint account for two or more people who grant each other the right to inherit the account assets upon death.

tastytrade also offers these retirement accounts:

Traditional IRA: This is an individual retirement account that allows you to make pre-tax contributions and pay taxes upon withdrawal.
Roth IRA: This is an individual retirement account that allows you to make after-tax contributions and withdraw tax-free in retirement.
SEP IRA: This is a simplified employee pension plan that allows self-employed individuals and small business owners to make pre-tax contributions for themselves and their employees.
Beneficiary Traditional IRA: This is an inherited IRA that allows you to receive distributions from a deceased person’s traditional IRA.
Beneficiary Roth IRA: This is an inherited IRA that allows you to receive distributions from a deceased person’s Roth IRA.

Robinhood Account Types

Robinhood offers these account types:

Roth IRA: This is an individual retirement account that allows you to make after-tax contributions and withdraw tax-free in retirement.
Traditional IRA: This is an individual retirement account that allows you to make pre-tax contributions and pay taxes upon withdrawal.
Individual Cash Account: This is a standard account for one person that does not allow margin trading or instant deposits.
Individual Margin Account: This is a standard account for one person that allows margin trading and instant deposits.

You can open one of each type of IRA at Robinhood, even if you already have an IRA at another financial institution or a workplace retirement plan, like a 401(k).

tastytrade vs. Robinhood Mobile Trading Apps

Both tastytrade and Robinhood have mobile trading apps that allow you to access your account and trade on the go. However, there are some differences in the features and performance of the apps.

tastytrade Mobile App

The tastytrade mobile app is the perfect combination of user-friendly and sophisticated enough to place complex orders with ease. You can access all the features of the desktop platform, such as:

Trade stocks, options, futures, and cryptocurrencies
Analyze your portfolio risk and performance
View market data and charts
Manage your account settings and preferences

The tastytrade mobile app is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Robinhood Mobile App

The Robinhood mobile app is appealing to look at, but it is extremely slow to place orders and not good for active trading. You can access some basic features of the platform, such as:

Trade stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies
View market news and analyst ratings
Access your watchlist and portfolio
Manage your account settings and preferences

The Robinhood mobile app is available for both iOS and Android devices.

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tastytrade vs. Robinhood Desktop Apps

Both tastytrade and Robinhood have desktop platforms that allow you to access your account and trade on your computer. However, there are some differences in the features and performance of the platforms.

tastytrade Desktop App

The tastytrade desktop app is like the new and improved version of thinkorswim. It runs much smoother, caters better to active traders, and has much lower fees than thinkorswim.

You can have multiple charts open at once, group your positions, and analyze your overall portfolio greeks. The tastytrade desktop app is available for Windows and Mac computers.

Robinhood Desktop App

Robinhood does not have a downloadable desktop app, so you must use the website to place orders and manage your account.

This is not ideal for active traders, as the website is slow, buggy, and lacks many features that are available on downloadable trading software like tastytrade. The Robinhood website is accessible from any browser.

tastytrade vs. Robinhood | Bottom Line

As you can see, tastytrade and Robinhood are very different brokers that cater to different types of investors and traders. tastytrade is one of the best trading platforms available for active traders who want to trade a variety of assets with low fees and advanced tools.

Robinhood is a simple and easy platform for beginners who want to invest in stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies with no commissions or fees.

Ultimately, the choice between tastytrade vs. Robinhood depends on your personal preferences, goals, and risk tolerance.

If you want to learn more about trading, you can join the HaiKhuu Trading community. HaiKhuu offers daily morning reports, live trading calls, and a community of thousands of traders to help accelerate your trading learning curve.

Tastytrade Disclosure

tastytrade, Inc. (“tastytrade”) has entered into a Marketing Agreement with Marketing Agent (“HaiKhuu LLC.”) whereby tastytrade pays compensation to HaiKhuu LLC. to recommend tastytrade’s brokerage services. The existence of this Marketing Agreement should not be deemed as an endorsement or recommendation of HaiKhuu LLC. by tastytrade and/or any of its affiliated companies. Neither tastytrade nor any of its affiliated companies is responsible for the privacy practices of HaiKhuu LLC. or this website. tastytrade does not warrant the accuracy or content of the products or services offered by HaiKhuu LLC. or this website. HaiKhuu LLC. is independent and is not an affiliate of tastytrade.

tastytrade was previously known as tastyworks, Inc.