Firstrade Review

Firstrade isn’t a household name among brokerage firms, but that could be changing. I have noticed that its platform has been quietly leveling up, adding fractional shares, mutual funds, and fixed-income offerings, which are standard among industry giants but not always available at smaller brokers. Unlike some discount brokers that rely on a "there’s a fund for that" approach, Firstrade now delivers a full-service range of investments.

The real standout is its options trading. Firstrade has rolled out an impressive set of tools and resources designed to integrate single-leg options or income strategies into longer-term portfolios easily. With steady innovation and a growing feature set, Firstrade is quickly climbing the ranks to earn its place among the best online brokers.

Pros & Cons

Overall summary

Firstrade is a top-rated broker on the following guides

• Best stock brokers
• Best for fractional shares and ETFs
• Best for penny stocks

Range of investments

Firstrade covers more ground than many smaller brokers when it comes to both investment options and account types. From a taxable account perspective, whether you're opening an individual or joint account, setting up a custodial account for a child, or managing assets in a trust, there’s a solid lineup to choose from.

Firstrade provides a full suite of investment vehicles, including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, fixed income, and options. One unique differentiator is its fully translated Mandarin-language platform, a feature few other firms offer. However, it does not support advisor services, crypto, forex, futures, international trading, or business brokerage accounts.

For those looking for tax-deferred or retirement accounts, Firstrade offers plenty of flexibility, with traditional, Roth, rollover, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs. There are even IRA options for minors, which isn’t something every brokerage firm provides.

Commissions and fees

Like most brokers today, Firstrade offers $0 commissions on stocks and ETFs, keeping it competitive with industry standards. But as an avid options trader myself, what I find really exciting is its options pricing. There’s no per-contract fee, and even better, no exercise or assignment fees. As someone who has reviewed plenty of broker pricing models, this is a rare find and a huge win for options traders looking to keep costs low.

Fixed income pricing

Fixed income pricing works a little differently. Firstrade acts as a principal rather than an agent, which directly impacts how bond trades are executed and priced.

As a principal, Firstrade buys bonds and other fixed-income securities for its own inventory before selling them to investors at a marked-up price. This is known as pricing on a net yield basis because the cost is built into the yield rather than charged as a separate commission. On the other hand, brokers acting as an agent don’t hold an internal inventory; they simply facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers, typically charging an explicit commission or markup for the service.

For investors, this means Firstrade won’t list a direct commission on your trade confirmation, but the cost is baked into the yield you receive. If you’re actively investing in fixed income, understanding this pricing structure is key to comparing costs across brokers.

Mobile trading apps

Options traders, take note — Firstrade’s mobile app delivers an experience that rivals even platforms built specifically for options trading, like tastytrade. Packing advanced options tools into a mobile app without sacrificing usability is no easy feat, but Firstrade pulls it off.

Options trading: While testing the platform, I was impressed by how intuitive the options trade ticket is. I could see all of the greeks while I seamlessly built multi-leg trades, and the stock’s price remained sticky at the top as I structured my position, a small but critical detail. It’s clear that experienced options traders had a hand in designing the trade ticket.

Stock trading: Stock trading, on the other hand, is simplified and easy to use. Quotes are visually well-designed, and I appreciated how market events were integrated into the interface. Watchlists sync across both web and mobile, though customization is limited.

AI innovations: Firstrade is also pushing into AI with FirstradeGPT, an AI-powered tool that could be a game-changer. While testing, I encountered some timeouts and performance issues, but that’s expected with a beta release.

Lack of integrated education: One clear gap is the lack of integrated education within the mobile experience. Unlike some competitors, Firstrade doesn’t provide learning tools directly in the app, which would be a valuable addition for investors looking to build knowledge on the go.

That said, for active traders, especially options traders, Firstrade’s mobile experience is one of the strongest I’ve tested. It proves that advanced tools don’t have to be sacrificed for portability. For anyone looking to trade options from their phone, this app delivers.

Other trading platforms and tools

Firstrade offers a solid selection of platform tools, though the experience leans more toward long-term investors rather than active traders.

Symbol watchlist: One of the features I found particularly useful was the watchlist, which doubles as a great hybrid tool for paper trading. I could add a symbol and track its price over time as if I had purchased it which is an excellent way to test strategies before committing real money. However, I couldn’t add a date or notes to track why I was watching a particular stock, which would make the feature even better.

Tax features: From a tax perspective, Firstrade makes reporting easier by clearly displaying wash sales and disallowed losses, along with a convenient export feature to Quicken, Excel, and other third-party platforms. These small but impactful details can save investors a lot of time when managing their accounts.

No desktop platform: One major gap is the lack of a downloadable active trading platform. While the web and mobile platforms offer a smooth experience, active traders looking for advanced execution tools or real-time charting won’t find them here. Firstrade seems more focused on delivering a streamlined experience rather than catering to high-frequency traders who desire advanced desktop platforms.

Research

Firstrade provides a solid research experience with a variety of easy-to-use tools for analyzing individual securities and the broader markets.

Market analysis: When researching stocks, I found tools that offer a good balance between technical and fundamental analysis. I appreciated the extra value I found. For example, the security profile overview that appears when you enter a stock quote presents all the standard data, such as equity style, sector, industry classification, quote data, and dividend information, but takes things a step further by having streamlined integration with Morningstar. I can quickly see whether a stock is trading at a premium or undervalued, view validation through analyst commentary, and even dive deeper into earnings multiples and free cash flows. Layering on the technical lens, Recognia-powered technical analysis further enhances stock research with automated chart pattern recognition and key technical insights.

Options strategies: Options traders, you benefit from OptionsPlay integration, which provides screening tools with trade ideas that can be compared and contrasted, whether or not you already have a stock in mind. Additionally, Firstrade offers multiple OptionsPlay-powered screeners to help generate and refine options trading strategies. This means that there are tools to help you find ideas, validate them, and compare or contrast them with other strategies.

Powerful economic calendar: One tool that really impressed me was the economic calendar, which allows investors to drill down into past events, expectations, and actual results, and then analyze them against relative currency movements, something I haven’t seen offered at other brokerage firms. If I could also compare event-driven price reactions against the S&P 500, this would be an even more powerful research tool that I would likely use often in my own trading.

Education

Firstrade does an excellent job with options and stock education, making it a great choice for investors looking to strengthen their knowledge in those areas. Expanding educational content for funds, fixed income, and general investing strategies would make it an even better resource for self-directed investors. Nonetheless, the platform provides well-structured, easy-to-understand content that caters to self-directed investors looking to expand their knowledge.

Options education: Firstrade's options education is easily one of the best I’ve seen. It goes beyond just covering the basics — there’s a full library of beginner resources, strategy-specific breakdowns, FAQs, and interactive tools to help traders get started and refine their approach. Firstrade delivers an impressive depth of content that caters to both beginners and advanced traders.

Stock education: Stock education is nearly as strong, with some of the best beginner-friendly material I’ve come across. The "What is a Stock?" article stood out for its clear explanation of supply and demand, why investors trade stocks, and the associated risks. Firstrade also integrates video tutorials that walk investors through placing trades and understanding order types, making it easy for visual learners to grasp key concepts while also bridging education into application.

Webinars: One noticeable gap is in webinars, which are heavily focused on options trading. While the depth here is great, I would have liked to see similar resources available for stocks, ETFs, and broader investing strategies.

Customer service

To score Customer Service, StockBrokers.com partners with customer experience research firm Confero to conduct phone tests from locations throughout the United States. For this year's testing, 130 customer service tests were conducted over six weeks, with wait times logged for each call.

Customer service representatives were asked for assistance or details in several areas of broker services for prospective customers, including account opening, trading tools, apps, rollovers, active trading, and more. Here are the results for Firstrade.

• Average Connection Time: Under a minute
• Average Net Promoter Score: 7.0 / 10
• Average Professionalism Score: 6.4 / 10
• Overall Score: 7.25 / 10
• Ranking: 11th of 13 brokers

Final thoughts

Firstrade has quietly built a competitive brokerage platform, offering a strong mix of low-cost trading, innovative tools, and in-depth education. It excels in key areas that make it a serious contender for self-directed investors.

Here are my top three takeaways for Firstrade in 2025:

1. Options traders take note – Firstrade’s $0 contract fee, no exercise/assignment fees, and a top-tier options trade ticket make it one of the most cost-effective and well-designed platforms for options trading. The options education is also among the best in the industry.
2. A full-service brokerage but with gaps – Firstrade provides stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, fixed income, and fractional shares, but it doesn’t offer futures, forex, crypto, or business accounts. Research and education are strong in stocks and options but less developed in funds and fixed income.
3. Innovation is there, but execution varies – Firstrade is pushing boundaries with tools like the Discover feature, AI-powered FirstradeGPT, and a well-designed economic calendar. However, portfolio tracking, fixed income research, and overall navigation could use some refinements.

For self-directed investors, especially those focused on options, Firstrade is a hidden gem. If it continues refining its research tools and expanding its product offerings, it could soon be competing near the top of the list of the best stock brokers we rate.

Read next

• Best Online Brokerage Accounts for 2025
• Best Stock Trading Apps for 2025
• Best Day Trading Platforms for 2025
• Best Stock Trading Platforms for Beginners of 2025
• Best Options Trading Platforms for 2025
• Best Futures Trading Platforms for 2025: A Beginner-Friendly Guide to an Advanced Market
• Best Brokers for Penny Stock Trading of 2025
• Best Paper Trading Platforms for 2025

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Popular Stock Broker Reviews

Is Firstrade good for beginners?

While Firstrade didn't make it onto our current shortlist of best trading platforms for beginners, it’s inexpensive, easy to use and the mobile app isn’t overwhelming. For Chinese-speaking customers, it could be the best choice. Sophisticated investors and traders will find better fits among our top-ranked brokers for 2025.

Does Firstrade have fees?

Yes, Firstrade has fees, but they are mainly for incidental services, such as transferring the account out. Firstrade does not charge annual account fees. They also do not charge a commission on stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and options.

What is the minimum deposit for Firstrade?

Firstrade has no account minimums, so feel free to open an account simply to try out the tools and features.

What is FirstradeGPT?

One of the first brokers to explore using an AI copilot in their research offering to clients, Firstrade recently launched FirstradeGPT, powered by FinChat.io, to generate technical and fundamental market analysis. The app has a ChatGPT-style chat interface that uses either your own or pre-defined prompts to interact with the FirstradeGPT model and receive streaming responses including complex graphs and bar chart data.

How does Firstrade make money?

Like virtually all online brokerages, Firstrade makes money through payment for order flow (PFOF). In this practice, a broker receives payment for routing its clients’ transactions through particular market makers. The practice is the subject of some controversy but remains a common industry practice. Fidelity is an exception in not accepting PFOF.

Is Firstrade safe?

Yes, Firstrade is safe. Firstrade was founded in 1985 and is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, or SIPC, which provides up to $500,000 of coverage of a client’s assets in the event of broker bankruptcy. Its clearing firm, Apex Clearing Corporation, provides additional insurance.

Does Firstrade show second-level data?

No, Firstrade does not provide access to Level II market data. Level II data shows detailed order book information, including bid and ask prices from market participants, helping traders gauge market depth and sentiment. This sort of data is typically useful for day traders who rely on precise market insights to make quick decisions.

About Firstrade

Founded in 1985, Flushing, New York-based Firstrade began as a deep-discount online broker offering $0 stock, ETF, mutual fund, and options trades and is now growing into a competitive full-service brokerage. Firstrade is continuing to innovate by embracing AI tools and rolling out powerful research suites like its economic calendar.

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Firstrade fees and features data

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Stock trading apps

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Trading platforms overview

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Investment research overview

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Options trading overview

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