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Broker review
Interactive Brokers review
Best for: Serious traders who want the lowest costs and global reach.
The professional's broker: the lowest margin rates in the industry, global market access, and powerful platforms — with a free Lite tier for simpler needs.
How we make money (or don't): BidAsk currently has no affiliate relationships
with these brokers and earns no commission if you open an account — the links below go directly
to each provider's own site. See our full disclosure.
Stocks / ETFs
$0 (Lite)
Options / contract
$0.65/contract (Lite)
Account minimum
$0
Fractional shares
Yes
IRA / Roth
Traditional, Roth, SEP, rollover
Standout features
- Consistently the lowest margin borrowing rates of any major broker.
- IBKR Lite offers $0 stock/ETF trades with no account minimums or monthly fees; Pro adds volume-based pricing from $0.15/contract on options.
- Global market access, IB SmartRouting, and the professional Trader Workstation platform.
Honest drawbacks
- Complexity overwhelms beginners — the platform assumes you know what you're doing.
- Pro's fixed/tiered pricing menu confuses newcomers.
- Lite forgoes some of Pro's execution price improvement.
Open an account at Interactive Brokers →
Link goes directly to Interactive Brokers's own site. Fees and features verified September 2026. Brokers change pricing without notice — confirm current terms on the provider's site before opening an account.
Sources
- Interactive Brokers commissions (official) (checked Sep 2026)
- Motley Fool: IBKR Lite vs Pro (checked Sep 2026)
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