Tradier Brokerage Review

If you’re trying out advanced charting applications and want to trade from them, Tradier Brokerage is a very logical choice. Tradier can link to dozens of third-party applications, including some of the most popular on the market. As a stand-alone broker, Tradier doesn’t offer many of the features industry leaders include for free.

Pros & Cons

Overall Summary

Investment options

As noted, offerings are narrow. This is clearly a broker for traders specifically interested in stocks, ETFs and options. Those looking for futures or crypto should check out competitors Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade or tastytrade.

Cryptocurrency: Tradier does not currently offer any cryptocurrencies.

Retirement services: While Tradier does offer IRAs, they carry an annual fee of $30 and a $60 fee if you close the account.

Commissions and fees

Tradier Brokerage has no commissions on stock or ETF trades. While most brokers are charging $0.65 for options trades, Tradier charges $0.35, or $0 with a $10 monthly subscription.

Other fees: As noted, IRAs have an annual fee of $30 and a closure fee of $60. Mutual fund trades cost $30. There are some additional fees: $10 for a broker-assisted trade and $9 for options exercise or assignment. A $50 inactivity fee kicks in for accounts under $2,000 and one or no trades in a year. International accounts have even higher inactivity fees.

Tradier’s Pro package offers the proprietary TradeHawk platform, which starts at $10 per month and includes no-commission option trades. Third-party packages have separate pricing.

Mobile trading apps

The mobile app is straightforward but trails the competition in terms of functionality, especially given that the company aims at the advanced trader. The charts are just OK and tools are basic.

Ease of use: The mobile app is easy to use, but not as straightforward as those of top competitors. Building multi-leg trades is simple and quick.

News feed: The news feed could be better curated. We checked the news on Apple stock and were bemused to find a Fox News article promoting eating an apple a day. As detailed as our broker reviews go, we don’t demand that brokers share dietary tips.

Watch lists: The watch list on mobile is more functional than that on the website. It links to the charts, which then have Level 1 data and a trade tab.

Charting: Charting on mobile is not as advanced as at many of Tradier’s competitors. You can change the time frame and toggle between line and candlestick, but you can’t zoom or scroll. There are no indicators to add. The chart is up off the right side of the screen, making it hard to see the current data.

Trading tools: Option chains on mobile offer the very basics, and calls and puts are listed separately. You can build multi-leg options trades easily — the best feature of the app.

Other trading platforms and tools

The real value in Tradier Brokerage is its API and ability to link out to a variety of trading platforms. The functionality of these platforms is excellent, but there are monthly fees charged to use them (look for free trials). This makes Tradier great for advanced traders who are willing to pay for the platform of their choice or build their own app.

Platforms overview: The web-based trading is simple but effective for stocks and ETFs. Multi-leg strategies are easy to set up and trade. Some of the third-party platforms have excellent tools and functionality, but as they carry additional fees, we do not review them here. Investors will want to factor in any additional costs, because Tradier’s basic web trading is unlikely to suffice.

Watch lists: Adding stocks to the watch list is done through the quote feature on the homepage. The watch list also doesn’t link to the research page and the other functionality doesn’t work as well as it should.

Charting: Charting on the website is excellent and provides a solid library of studies and drawing tools. Housing it under research and not making it accessible though the watch list, however, is odd and makes for a less-than-seamless experience.

Trading tools: Trading tools on the website are simple but effective for stock, ETF and options trading. The trade ticket allows for building a wide variety of multi-leg strategies, with a maximum of four legs, a customary limit among options brokers.

Options trading: The options chains are not customizable, other than changing the number of strikes.

Futures trading: Tradier does not offer futures trading.

Research

Tradier Brokerage’s research includes an overview of the stock, a listing of financial metrics, a news feed and a technical analysis rating for different time periods. Third-party research PDFs, a TipRanks widget or earnings consensus information are notably missing.

Stock research: There is a description of the stock, basic fundamental data and a technical rating. It’s unclear what factors drive the technical rating, which makes us reluctant to rely on it.

Market commentary: Tradier offers its own OptionsBrewTV with some market commentary. It can be found through the login page and on a YouTube channel.

Education

There are some educational videos offered through OptionBrewTV and paper trading, but little beyond that, other than a poorly written blog that is doing Tradier’s brand no favors. Tradier is aimed at a sophisticated audience and its market commentary should reflect that. Many other brokers are making great strides in investor education these days. If you want robust educational content, consider Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab and, for advanced traders, Interactive Brokers.

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 our 2023 Broker Review, 168 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, including account opening, trading tools, apps, rollovers, active trading, and more. Here are the results for Tradier.

• Average Connection Time: <1 minute
• Average Net Promoter Score: 7.4 / 10
• Average Professionalism Score: 6.4 / 10
• Overall Score: 7.4 / 10
• Ranking: 11th of 14 brokers

Final thoughts

Tradier Brokerage targets a very specific audience: advanced, active stock, ETF and option traders who don’t mind paying for the platform of their choice. If you fall into this category, Tradier could be a solid choice. If you don’t, look for a broker that offers the tools and instruments you are looking for. (We offer guides and a comparison tool that can help you narrow down your choices.) Here are our top takeaways for Tradier for 2023.

1. Tradier may appeal to advanced traders, especially those looking to use their own programming skills.
2. Traders who like to platform-shop will feel like kids in a candy store at Tradier.
3. Beginner traders who are still building skills will find a better fit with an industry leader like Fidelity or E*TRADE.

About Tradier

Tradier, Inc., is a cloud-based financial services provider and brokerage API company. The company’s platform services providers, advisors, developers and individual investors. It was founded in 2012 in North Carolina.

Is Tradier a brokerage?

Yes, Tradier is a registered broker that trades stocks, exchange-traded funds and options. Our research found that it could be an appealing choice for active traders looking to use their own programming skills or those looking for a specific trading platform.

How does Tradier make money?

Tradier does not charge commissions on stock and ETF trades. Instead, exchanges and other parties pay Tradier to execute customers’ trades, a common practice called payment for order flow (PFOF). Tradier also offers margin lending and charges incidental fees.

Does Tradier have paper trading?

Yes, Tradier provides a virtual portfolio that can be accessed on the account tab. Paper trading, which not all brokers offer, allows you to practice stock trading by simulating a stock purchase or sale without risking real money. Paper, or virtual, trading can be a useful tool for learning about buying and selling stocks.

2023 Review methodology

Our mission at StockBrokers.com is simple: provide thorough and unbiased reviews of online brokers, based on an extraordinary level of hands-on testing and data collection. Our ratings and awards are based on this data and our experts’ deep authority in the field; brokers cannot pay for preferential treatment. Here’s more about trustworthiness at StockBrokers.com.

For the StockBrokers.com 13th Annual Review published in January 2023, a total of 3,332 data points were collected over three months and used to score 17 top brokers. This makes StockBrokers.com home to the largest independent database on the web covering the online broker industry.

As part of our annual review process, all brokers had the opportunity to provide updates and key milestones and complete an in-depth data profile, which we hand-checked for accuracy. Brokers also were offered the opportunity to provide executive time for an annual update meeting.

Our 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.

Tradier 2023 results

For the StockBrokers.com 2023 Review, all U.S. equity brokers we reviewed were assessed on 196 different variables across eight areas: Commissions & Fees, Investment Options, Platforms & Tools, Research, Mobile Trading, Education, Ease of Use, and Overall.

StockBrokers.com also presented “Best in Class” awards to brokers for additional categories Beginners, Options Trading, Futures Trading, Active Trading, IRA Accounts, Investor Community, Penny Stock Trading, Banking Services and Customer Service. A “Best in Class” designation means finishing in the top five brokers for that category.

For more information, see how we test.

Primary categories

Tradier fees and features data

The data collection efforts at StockBrokers.com are unmatched in the industry. The following tables show a deeper dive into the offerings available at this broker. You can also compare its offerings side-by-side with those of other brokers using our Comparison Tool.

In addition to meticulous annual data collection by our in-house analyst, every broker that participates in our review is afforded the opportunity to complete an in-depth data profile. We then audit each data point to ensure its accuracy.

Trading fees

Account fees

Margin rates

Investment options

Order types

Beginners

Stock trading apps

Stock app features

Stock app charting

Trading platforms overview

Trading platform stock chart features

Day trading features

Investment research overview

Stock research features

ETF research features

Mutual fund research features

Options trading overview

Banking features

Customer service options

About the Editorial Team