Lightspeed Review
The StockBrokers.com annual review (9 years running) takes six months to complete and produces over 30,000 words of research each year. Here's how we test.
Feeling confused is a common experience for first-time visitors to the Lightspeed website, unless they can speak the lingo of Lightspeed's target market, the active trader.
Lightspeed is one of the few online brokers whose goal is to avoid newer investors and those with little experience. The definition of "active trader" has a different meaning at Lightspeed compared to other big names, such as TD Ameritrade and E*TRADE. At Lightspeed, it is not uncommon for customers to trade over 1,000 times a year.
Review Summary
Lightspeed is a direct-access, online discount brokerage that focuses on serving active and professional traders through its in-house and third-party trading platforms. Casual traders beware though, not trading enough will mean getting stuck paying high monthly platform fees.
Benefits
- Platforms built for speed and order execution.
- Multiple platform options for traders to choose from.
- Numerous routes available for order routing.
Considerations
- Lightspeed Trader platform has an outdated design.
- Mobile trading support is essentially nonexistent.
- $99 monthly platform fee (waived if certain conditions met).
Commissions & Fees
Through the main platform, Lightspeed Trader, two-tiered commission structures are offered: per share and per trade. The more volume you trade or the more frequently you trade, respectively, each month, the lower your rate will be.
Benefits
- With per share trading, equity trades start at $.0045 per share plus/minus routing fees ($1 minimum). Traders who place larger orders can opt to pay per trade, starting at $4.50, plus/minus routing fees.
- Options trades start at $.60 per contract and scale down in cost according to monthly volume.
Considerations
- The Lightspeed Trader platform charges a $100 software fee each month. Commission spend applies towards this fee, so if a trader spends at least $100 in commissions the $100 fee is not applicable ($100 - $100 = $0). As another example, if the trader spends only $40 in commissions, he/she would be charged $60 ($100 - $40) for that month.
- Unless traders opt to use the LSPT Route, they are fully responsible for market center routing fees. Rebates are provided for adding liquidity, while charges are assessed for taking liquidity.
Further Reading
Fees Comparison
| Feature | Lightspeed | Interactive Brokers | TradeStation | SpeedTrader | Cobra Trading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $10,000.00 | $0.00 | $500.00 | $30,000.00 | $30,000.00 |
| Stock Trade Fee (per trade) | $4.50 | N/A | $5.00 | $4.49 | N/A |
| ETF Trade Fee | $4.50 | $0.005 | $5.00 | $4.49 | N/A |
| Options Base Fee | $0.00 | $0.00 | $5.00 | N/A | N/A |
| Options Per Contract Fee | $0.60 | $0.70 | $0.50 | $0.00 | $0.50 |
| Mutual Fund Trade Fee | N/A | $14.95 | $14.95 | $50.00 | $25.00 |
| Broker Assisted Trades Fee | $25.00 | $30.00 | $50.00 | $30.00 | $0.00 |
| Commission-Free ETFs | 0 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Commissions & Fees |
Platforms & Tools
For our review, we focused solely on Lightspeed's flagship platform, Lightspeed Trader, a desktop-based platform designed for speed, stability, and execution. While not the prettiest platform (it certainly would place last in any beauty pageant), the platform serves its purpose.
Benefits
- Lightspeed offers customers multiple platforms to trade on. Under Lightspeed’s parent company, three platforms are corporate owned: Lightspeed Trader, Lightspeed Web Trader, and Sterling Trader.
- Third-party trading platforms focused on equities trading on offer to customers include RealTick Pro and Express. For options trading, there is Livevol X (owned by the CBOE, Lightspeed is the only broker with an enterprise license to offer the platform to customers), Derivix, Obsidian, OptionsCity, Valdi Options Solutions, and Wex. Lastly, for futures trading, customers can select from several options: RealTick, CQG, CunninghamTrading Systems (CTS), NinjaTrader, Patsystems, Quick Screen Trading (QST), RAN, and Trading Technologies (TT).
- Lightspeed Trader includes endless hotkey options for trading on the fly.
Considerations
- Beyond placing lightning-fast trades, Lightspeed Trader has little to offer. I found the charting to be just okay, and the analytical tools were certainly lacking.
- For less active investors looking for something more basic (and less expensive), Lightspeed Web Trader (browser-based) is a good solution. Web Trader offers the same look and feel as Lightspeed Trader; however, the platform lacks advanced functionality such as hotkeys, level 2 quotes, basket order entry, and direct market access, and there is no access to TipRanks research.
Gallery
Further Reading
Tools Comparison
| Feature | Lightspeed | Interactive Brokers | TradeStation | SpeedTrader | Cobra Trading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watch Lists - Total Fields | 141 | 453 | 335 | 30 | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 8 | 9 | 23 | 9 | 9 |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 20 | 121 | 282 | 36 | 36 |
| Option Chains - Total Columns | 60 | 37 | 32 | 17 | 17 |
| Streaming TV | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Paper Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms & Tools |
Research
Lightspeed makes little effort to offer fundamental and technical research tools since research is mostly irrelevant to the active trader.
Benefits
- TipRanks service provided at no additional cost to customers using Lightspeed Trader.
Considerations
- Beyond a stock scanner and basic quotes, market research is not offered.
Gallery
Research Comparison
| Feature | Lightspeed | Interactive Brokers | TradeStation | SpeedTrader | Cobra Trading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research - Stocks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Stock Research - Reports | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Research - ETFs | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Research - Mutual Funds | No | No | No | No | No |
| Research - Pink Sheets / OTCBB | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Research - Fixed Income | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Research - Futures | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Research - Forex | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Research |
Customer Service
To score Customer Service, StockBrokers.com partners with customer experience research group Confero to conduct phone tests from locations throughout the United States. For our 2019 Broker Review, 300 customer service tests were conducted over ten weeks.
Results
- Average Connection Time: <1 minute
- Average Net Promoter Score: 7.6 / 10
- Average Professionalism Score: 7.0 / 10
- Overall Score: 7.75 / 10
- Ranking: 9 th (16 brokers)
- View Infographic
Mobile Trading
The Lightspeed mobile app connects to Lightspeed Web Trader accounts, not flagship Lightspeed Trader platform accounts. Even with access, functionality is scarce.
Benefits
- None.
Considerations
- No mobile app support for Lightspeed Trader customers.
- The Lightspeed mobile app focuses solely on the essential functionality required to trade.
Gallery
Further Reading:
Mobile Apps Comparison
| Feature | Lightspeed | Interactive Brokers | TradeStation | SpeedTrader | Cobra Trading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Android App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apple Watch App | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Watch List Syncing | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Stock Alerts - Basic Fields | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Charting - After Hours | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading |
Offering of Investments
Lightspeed offers active traders fully featured stock and options trading. This means direct market routing to numerous venues, an extensive list of order types, and complex options.
Benefits
- Extensive list of order types supported.
- Direct market routing.
- Lightspeed’s institutional arm offers algorithmic (algo) trading through its Lightspeed Trader API and black box developer kits, both of which are often used only by hedge funds.
Considerations
- Limited fixed-income trading.
- No mutual funds trading.
- No commission-free ETFs.
Further Reading
Offering Comparison
| Feature | Lightspeed | Interactive Brokers | TradeStation | SpeedTrader | Cobra Trading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OTCBB / Pink Sheets | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Options Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Complex Options Max Legs | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Options Exercising (Web) | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Options Exercising (Phone) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Bonds (US Treasury) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Bonds (Corporate) | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Bonds (Municipal) | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Futures Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Forex Trading | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Mutual Funds (No Load) | 0 | 7558 | 887 | 0 | 0 |
| Mutual Funds (Total) | 0 | 11000 | 4357 | 0 | 0 |
| DRIPs | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Advisor Services | No | No | No | No | No |
| Offering of Investments |
Final Thoughts
Lightspeed is not an online broker built with new or casual investors in mind. Instead, it caters to active, professional and institutional traders alike, all looking for fast executions, reliable market routes, and dependable platforms built to serve one purpose: trading.
Methodology
For the StockBrokers.com ninth annual review published in February 2019, a total of 4,544 data points were collected over six months and used to score brokers. Each broker completed an in-depth data profile and provided executive time (live in person or over the web) for an annual update meeting. This makes StockBrokers.com home to the largest independent database on the web covering the online broker industry.
Participation is required to be included. Each broker completed an in-depth data profile and provided executive time (live in person or over the web) for an annual update meeting. We take pride in StockBrokers.com data quality because it is 100% verified by the industry itself. As part of our process, we hand check and validate each data point to ensure its accuracy.
This rigorous data validation process yields an >error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors quality data they can trust. Learn more about how we test.
About the author: Blain Reinkensmeyer As Head of Research at StockBrokers.com, Blain Reinkensmeyer has 18 years of trading experience with over 1,000 trades placed during that time. Referenced as a leading expert on the US online brokerage industry, Blain has been quoted in The New York Times, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among others.
