Country scope: United States
Options Trading Fees: Compare the Full Cost Per Contract
Options trading fees can include a base commission, a charge for each contract, separate opening and closing costs, exercise or assignment charges, and exchange, clearing, or regulatory amounts. Count every contract on every leg and keep conditional or unknown charges visible. The headline per-contract rate is only one part of the comparison.
Last reviewed
Why this matters when choosing a broker
Two brokers can publish the same headline contract price but produce different totals because one waives closing charges, caps opening commissions by leg, or passes through other fees differently.
The current US calculator models opening listed-options contracts when the broker rule can be evaluated. It does not assume that closing, exercise, assignment, strategy-leg, exchange, clearing, or regulatory costs are zero.
What do options trading fees include?
Read the broker's options pricing page and detailed fee schedule together. Record each charge on its own line, with the event and conditions that trigger it.
| Fee layer | How it can be charged | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Base commission | Once per order or trade, before any contract charge | Online or assisted channel, product, order type, and minimum |
| Opening contract charge | Per contract when the position is opened, sometimes with a cap | Rate, contract count, premium or volume tier, and cap basis |
| Closing contract charge | Per contract when the position is closed, or waived under stated conditions | Whether the opening rate repeats and whether a low-price or online waiver applies |
| Exercise or assignment | Per event, contract, line item, or resulting transaction | Broker charge, underlying transaction charge, and cash-settled or physical outcome |
| Exchange and clearing | By contract, side, product, venue, order origin, or routing path | Which amounts the broker passes through and whether index products differ |
| Regulatory | By contract, side, or covered sale value under the applicable rule | Current rate, covered event, exclusions, and the broker's rounding method |
| Strategy legs | Contract charges and caps can apply to each leg | Contracts per leg, number of legs, opening and closing treatment, and cap per leg or order |
How do opening and closing options trading fees differ?
Do not double an opening quote unless the broker also charges the same amount to close. Some schedules price both sides equally. Others charge to open and list a lower or zero closing commission.
tastytrade currently lists stock and ETF options at $1 per contract to open, capped at $10 per leg, and $0 per contract to close. It lists other product categories separately and states that other fees apply. This is one provider schedule, not a market-wide rule.
Charles Schwab currently states that its per-contract fee is waived for qualifying online buy-to-close trades priced at $0.05 or less. It also states that options exercises and assignments have no commission or per-contract fee. These conditions show why a single headline rate is not enough, and they do not establish that every related cost is zero.
Which exchange, clearing, and regulatory options trading fees can apply?
Market charges start at different levels of the system. OCC's January 2026 schedule lists a $0.025 clearing fee per contract for clearing members. Cboe's C2 schedule shows that exchange transaction and regulatory rates can depend on product, customer type, liquidity, routing, order complexity, and contract side. Neither schedule alone proves the amount a retail customer will pay.
FINRA's 2026 Trading Activity Fee rate for covered options sales is $0.00329 per contract. FINRA explains that some options transactions are excluded and that an exercise resulting in physical delivery can also create an equity-based Trading Activity Fee assessment for the firm making delivery.
The SEC set the fiscal year 2026 Section 31 rate at $20.60 per million dollars for covered sales on charge dates from April 4, 2026. The SEC says Section 31 obligations apply to self-regulatory organizations, while broker-dealers generally pass related per-transaction charges to customers. Use the broker's schedule for the customer amount and confirm the rate again before relying on it.
How do strategy legs change options trading fees?
Count contracts on every leg. A two-leg order with three contracts on each leg contains six contracts for a per-contract calculation. Opening and later closing that position can create twelve contract-side charges when the same rate applies both times.
Check where a cap applies. A cap described as per leg can be reached separately on each leg. A cap described as per order may work differently. Exchange schedules can also treat simple and multi-leg orders differently, so keep the broker commission and passed-through market charges in separate rows.
This contract-count method explains cost only. It does not explain, recommend, or assess any options strategy or trade.
How should you compare options trading fees with unknown costs?
Use the same account, options product, order channel, opening contract count, closing contract count, legs, and possible exercise or assignment events for each broker. Mark a fee as zero only when an official source confirms zero for those conditions.
Mark a fee unknown when the schedule depends on information you have not entered, such as premium, volume, venue, or order route. Mark it excluded when the calculator does not model the charge. Unknown and excluded do not mean free.
- Separate the broker's base commission from the contract charge.
- Separate opening, closing, exercise, and assignment events.
- Count contracts on each leg before applying a rate or cap.
- Keep exchange, clearing, and regulatory pass-through charges outside the broker commission subtotal unless the official customer schedule includes them.
- Recheck the dated fee schedule before opening an account or placing an order.
Worked comparison
Common mistakes and misinterpretations
- Multiplying the rate by orders instead of by contracts when the schedule prices each contract.
- Counting contracts on only one leg of a multi-leg order.
- Assuming the opening charge automatically repeats at closing, or assuming closing is free without a matching condition.
- Treating a $0 broker commission as proof that exchange, clearing, and regulatory charges are also $0.
- Leaving exercise or assignment out of a scenario where either event could occur.
- Converting an unknown, conditional, or excluded fee into zero.
How to apply this
Open a functional destination with the relevant country or account filter applied. Recheck current official terms before acting.
Key takeaways
- The full cost starts with base commission plus per-contract charges across every leg.
- Opening and closing prices can differ, so calculate them separately.
- Exercise, assignment, exchange, clearing, and regulatory amounts need their own checks.
- A provider cap may apply per leg rather than to the complete order.
- Use one fixed activity pattern and keep every unknown or excluded fee visible.
Official and authoritative sources
These pages were checked for the claims used in this guide. Follow the descriptive link to verify the current source.
- FINRA Fee Adjustment ScheduleFinancial Industry Regulatory Authority · checked
- Trading Activity Fee Frequently Asked QuestionsFinancial Industry Regulatory Authority · checked
- Section 31 Transaction Fee Rate Advisory for Fiscal Year 2026U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · checked
- Section 31 Transaction Fees: Basic Information for FirmsU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · checked
- Schedule of FeesThe Options Clearing Corporation · checked
- Cboe C2 Options Exchange Fee ScheduleCboe Global Markets · checked
- Options Trading Pricingtastytrade · checked
- Option Commissions per Executed TradeCharles Schwab · checked