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Tradier Brokerage Review

Sam Levine, CFA, CMT

Written by Sam Levine, CFA, CMT
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis

March 12, 2024

If you are looking for a broker that can execute trades from a third-party or custom-built trading platform, Tradier is a sensible choice. Tradier can link to dozens of third-party applications. You may also use Tradier directly via a mobile app, a web portal or its proprietary TradeHawk desktop platform.

Tradier
4/5 Stars Overall
  • Minimum Deposit: $0.00
  • Stock Trades: $0.00
  • Options (Per Contract): $0.35 info
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Trade Options FREE For 1 Year

feed Recent news

January 2024: Crypto ETFs. Tradier now allows trading of spot bitcoin ETFs in brokerage accounts.

Pros & Cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

  • Power traders can choose from an immense variety of compatible platforms.
  • Tradier’s web-based Dash trading portal has good charting, sophisticated order types such as OTO and OTOCO and snappy responsiveness.
  • U.S. citizens and permanent residents can open accounts from 120 countries.

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

  • Tradier doesn’t offer cryptocurrencies (though that may change shortly), futures, or OTCBB stocks.
  • Mutual funds and fixed income orders require a phone call to the trading desk.
  • Third-party apps can add to your overall cost.
  • Tradier’s base pricing plan has inactivity and IRA fees.

Overall Summary

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Overall 4/5 Stars
Investment Options 4/5 Stars
Commissions & Fees 4.5/5 Stars
Mobile Trading Apps 4/5 Stars
Platforms & Tools 3.5/5 Stars
Research 2.5/5 Stars
Customer Service 3.5/5 Stars
Education 2/5 Stars
Ease Of Use 4.5/5 Stars

Investment options

This is a broker for traders interested in stocks, ETFs and options. Mutual fund and fixed income orders require phoning in to the trading desk. Those looking for the full gamut of investing instruments should check out competitors Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade (which is now being converted to Charles Schwab).

Cryptocurrency: As of our review (June 2023), Tradier has a waitlist for access to crypto. Details at present are vague.

Retirement services: Tradier’s IRAs carry annual fees of $30, which is waived with a Pro subscription. There’s a $60 fee if you close an IRA account.

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Stock Trading info Yes
Margin Trading Yes
OTC Stocks info No
Options Trading info Yes
Complex Options Max Legs info 4
Bonds (US Treasury) info No
Futures Trading info No
Forex Trading info No
Mutual Funds (Total) info 0
Crypto Trading info No
Crypto Trading - Total Coins info 0
Traditional IRAs info Yes
Roth IRAs info Yes
Advisor Services info No
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Commissions and fees

Tradier Brokerage doesn’t charge commissions on stock or ETF trades. While most brokers charge $0.65 per contract for options trades, Tradier charges only $0.35, or $0 with a $10 monthly subscription for the Pro tier.

Other fees: Mutual fund trades cost $30. As with all brokers, there are some incidental fees: $10 for a broker-assisted trade and $9 for an options exercise or assignment. If you don’t subscribe to the Pro plan, there’s a $50 annual inactivity fee for accounts under $2,000 and less than two trades in a year.

Third-party trading platforms have separate pricing, which will add to your costs.

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Minimum Deposit $0.00
Stock Trades $0.00
Penny Stock Fees (OTC) info N/A
ETF Trade Fee $0.00
Options (Base Fee) $0.00
Options (Per Contract) $0.35 info
Options Exercise Fee $9.00
Options Assignment Fee $9.00
Futures (Per Contract) (Not offered)
Mutual Fund Trade Fee $30 info
Broker Assisted Trade Fee $10
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Mobile trading apps

The app is straightforward and loads pages quickly, but it trails the competition in functionality, especially given that the company aims at the advanced trader. Mobile charts are just OK and the tools are basic.

Ease of use: The mobile app is easy to use because it’s stripped down to the essentials. The ease of building multi-leg trades is one of the best features of the app.

News feed: The news feed seems vastly improved compared to our last analysis, when it was cluttered with irrelevant content. This time around, the articles were spot on.

Charting: Charting on mobile is not as advanced as what I found at many of Tradier’s competitors. You can change the time frame and toggle between a couple of chart types, but you can’t zoom or scroll. There are no indicators to add.

Trading tools: The app provides more broad market data than the website. It displays sector performance, most actives, biggest gainers and losers and, interestingly enough, an IPO calendar, which really could be swapped for a more useful widget.

Option chains on mobile offer the basics and calls and puts are listed separately. You can build multi-leg options trades easily, which I find to be one of the best features of the app.

Feature Tradier logoTradier
iPhone App info Yes
Android App info Yes
Apple Watch App info No
Stock Alerts info No
Charting - After-Hours info No
Charting - Technical Studies info 0
Charting - Study Customizations info No
Watch List (Streaming) info No
Watch Lists - Create & Manage info Yes
Watch Lists - Column Customization info No

Other trading platforms and tools

The real value of Tradier Brokerage is its ability to link out to a variety of trading platforms. With around 100 third-party platforms supporting Tradier integration, every trader should be able to find the perfect platform for their needs.

Platforms overview: The browser-based Dash trading platform is simple but effective for stocks, ETFs and basic options trading. The research tab pulls up a comprehensive chart package, ratings widgets, and some fundamental data. All of the widgets come from TradingView, a respected third party used by many brokers.

Tradier’s designers seem to prioritize responsiveness over snazzy design and extensive features. Though the absence of many common features may have negatively impacted our review scores, we still think Dash serves as a fine backup in case a primary trading platform goes down.

A Pro subscription includes access to the proprietary TradeHawk platform. I wasn’t over the moon about it. I experienced a puzzling bug on the Mac version that zoomed charts out regardless of whether scrolling up or down on the mouse.

Watch lists: Watch lists are probably the most frequently used broker widget, and it was surprising how little information Dash puts on its watch list. The Dash watch list only has three data points: last price, the daily price change and the daily percent change.

Charting: Charting on the website is quite good. There’s a solid library of studies and drawing tools. Many brokers think it sufficient to offer a choice between candlestick, bar, mountain, and line charts. Tradier offers 17 chart types, including point-and-figure and Kagi charts.

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

Options trading: The options chains are not customizable, other than changing the number of strikes and adding or changing an expiration date. I would like for the website to display more than two expiration dates.

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Active Trading Platform info TradeHawk
Desktop Trading Platform info No info
Desktop Platform (Mac) info No info
Web Trading Platform info Yes
Paper Trading info Yes
Trade Journal info No
Watch Lists - Total Fields info 3
Charting - Indicators / Studies info 95
Charting - Drawing Tools info 0
Charting - Study Customizations info 7
Charting - Save Profiles info No
Trade Ideas - Technical Analysis info No
Streaming Time & Sales info No
Trade Ideas - Backtesting info No
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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 and 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 me reluctant to rely on it.

Market commentary: Tradier has a compelling mix of market commentary on its blog. I think it needs to be displayed more prominently. Some posts are high-quality (the Tradier-authored posts are excellent) and some guest contributions aren't, but a brief skim through recent blog posts will leave you with solid insights and food for thought.

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Research - Stocks info Yes
Stock Research - ESG info No
Stock Research - PDF Reports info 0
Screener - Stocks info No
Research - ETFs info Yes
Screener - ETFs info No
Research - Mutual Funds info No
Screener - Mutual Funds info No
Research - Pink Sheets / OTCBB info No
Research - Bonds info No

Education

Tradier’s education is geared toward experienced traders, which isn’t surprising given its focus on partnering with third-party trading platforms. While browsing the list of webinars available on Tradier’s OptionsBrewTV YouTube channel, I found educational content on Tradier on sophisticated topics such as “Learning About the Sub-Greek Vanna in Options Trading.” That was new to me; the only Vanna I was aware of turns letter cubes on a game show.

Many other brokers are making great strides in beginning investor education these days. If you want robust educational content, consider Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab and, for advanced traders, Interactive Brokers.

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Education (Stocks) info No
Education (ETFs) info No
Education (Options) info No
Education (Mutual Funds) info No
Education (Bonds) info No
Education (Retirement) info No
Paper Trading info Yes
Videos info No
Webinars info No
Webinars (Archived) info No
Progress Tracking info No
Interactive Learning - Quizzes info No
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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, 135 customer service tests were conducted over six weeks, with wait times logged for each call.

Customer service representatives were asked for assistance or details for prospective customers 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: 7.2 / 10
  • Average Professionalism Score: 5.4 / 10
  • Overall Score: 6.93 / 10
  • Ranking: 11th of 13 brokers

Final thoughts

Tradier Brokerage appears to be targeting a very specific audience: advanced stock, ETF and options traders who are using third party platforms. If you fall into this category, Tradier is a solid choice. If you don’t, there are plenty of other brokers that offer 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 2024.

  1. Beginner traders who are still building skills will find a better fit with an industry leader like Fidelity or E*TRADE.
  2. It’s likely that you’re considering Tradier in conjunction with a third party trading app. On that basis, Tradier is perfectly fine.

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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.

What does Tradier do?

Yes, Tradier is a registered broker that trades stocks, exchange-traded funds and options online and other instruments by phone. Tradier is an appropriate choice for active traders adding a broker to a trading platform.

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.

Does Tradier have an app?

Yes, Tradier has a mobile app. The app isn’t as feature-laden as many of Tradier’s competitors, but it is very responsive.

How much does Tradier cost?

Tradier does not charge commissions for stocks and ETFs. There are two price plans. The base plan has no monthly charge and relatively low priced options trading. IRA accounts do carry an annual fee. Frequent options traders might find their Pro plan to be cost effective. The $10 per month plan waives options commissions and some other fees.

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, or virtual, trading can be a useful tool for learning about buying and selling stocks.

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Our research team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of features, products, services, and tools for U.S. investors, collecting and validating thousands of data points in the process; this makes StockBrokers.com home to the largest independent database on the web covering the online broker industry. We test all available trading platforms for each broker and evaluate them based on a host of data-driven variables. All research, writing and data collection at StockBrokers.com is done by humans, for humans. Read our generative AI policy here.

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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

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Minimum Deposit $0.00
Stock Trades $0.00
Mutual Fund Trade Fee $30 info
Options (Base Fee) $0.00
Options (Per Contract) $0.35 info
Futures (Per Contract) (Not offered)
Broker Assisted Trade Fee $10

Account fees

Feature Tradier logoTradier
IRA Annual Fee $30.00 info
IRA Closure Fee $60.00
Account Transfer Out (Partial) info $75.00
Account Transfer Out (Full) info $75.00
Options Exercise Fee $9.00
Options Assignment Fee $9.00

Margin rates

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Margin Rate Under $25,000 9.5%
Margin Rate $25,000 to $49,999.99 9.5%
Margin Rate $50,000 to $99,999.99 9.5%
Margin Rate $100,000 to $249,999.99 9.5%
Margin Rate $250,000 to $499,999.99 9.5%
Margin Rate $500,000 to $999,999.99 9.5%
Margin Rate Above $1,000,000 9.5%

Investment options

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Stock Trading info Yes
Margin Trading Yes
Fractional Shares info No
OTC Stocks info No
Options Trading info Yes
Complex Options Max Legs info 4
Futures Trading info No
Forex Trading info No
Crypto Trading info No
Crypto Trading - Total Coins info 0
Mutual Funds (No Load) info 0
Mutual Funds (Total) info 0
Bonds (US Treasury) info No
Bonds (Corporate) info No
Bonds (Municipal) info No
Advisor Services info No
International Countries (Stocks) info 0
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Order types

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Order Type - Market info Yes
Order Type - Limit info Yes
Order Type - After Hours info Yes
Order Type - Stop info Yes
Order Type - Trailing Stop info No
Order Type - OCO info Yes
Order Type - OTO info Yes
Order Type - Broker Assisted info Yes

Beginners

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Education (Stocks) info No
Education (ETFs) info No
Education (Options) info No
Education (Mutual Funds) info No
Education (Bonds) info No
Education (Retirement) info No
Retirement Calculator info No
Investor Dictionary info No
Paper Trading info Yes
Videos info No
Webinars info No
Webinars (Archived) info No
Progress Tracking info No
Interactive Learning - Quizzes info No
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Stock trading apps

Feature Tradier logoTradier
iPhone App info Yes
Android App info Yes
Apple Watch App info No
Trading - Stocks info Yes
Trading - After-Hours info Yes
Trading - Simple Options info Yes
Trading - Complex Options info Yes
Order Ticket RT Quotes info Yes
Order Ticket SRT Quotes info No

Stock app features

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Market Movers (Top Gainers) info Yes
Stream Live TV info No
Videos on Demand info No
Stock Alerts info No
Option Chains Viewable info Yes
Watch List (Real-time) info Yes
Watch List (Streaming) info No
Watch Lists - Create & Manage info Yes
Watch Lists - Column Customization info No
Watch Lists - Total Fields info 3

Stock app charting

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Charting - After-Hours info No
Charting - Can Turn Horizontally info No
Charting - Multiple Time Frames info Yes
Charting - Technical Studies info 0
Charting - Study Customizations info No
Charting - Stock Comparisons info No

Trading platforms overview

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Active Trading Platform info TradeHawk
Desktop Trading Platform info No info
Desktop Platform (Mac) info No info
Web Trading Platform info Yes
Paper Trading info Yes
Trade Journal info No
Watch Lists - Total Fields info 3

Trading platform stock chart features

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Charting - Adjust Trades on Chart info No
Charting - Indicators / Studies info 95
Charting - Drawing Tools info 0
Charting - Notes info Yes
Charting - Index Overlays info No
Charting - Historical Trades info Yes
Charting - Corporate Events info No
Charting - Custom Date Range info No
Charting - Custom Time Bars info No
Charting - Automated Analysis info No
Charting - Save Profiles info No
Trade Ideas - Technical Analysis info No
Charting - Study Customizations info 7
Charting - Custom Studies info No
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Day trading features

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Streaming Time & Sales info No
Streaming TV info No
Direct Market Routing - Stocks info No
Ladder Trading info No
Trade Hot Keys info No
Level 2 Quotes - Stocks info No
Trade Ideas - Backtesting info No
Trade Ideas - Backtesting Adv info No
Short Locator info No
Order Liquidity Rebates info No

Investment research overview

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Research - Stocks info Yes
Research - ETFs info Yes
Research - Mutual Funds info No
Research - Pink Sheets / OTCBB info No
Research - Bonds info No
Screener - Stocks info No
Screener - ETFs info No
Screener - Mutual Funds info No
Screener - Bonds info No
Misc - Portfolio Allocation info No

Stock research features

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Stock Research - PDF Reports info 0
Stock Research - Earnings info No
Stock Research - Insiders info No
Stock Research - Social info No
Stock Research - News info No
Stock Research - ESG info No
Stock Research - SEC Filings info No

ETF research features

Feature Tradier logoTradier
ETFs - Strategy Overview info No
ETF Fund Facts - Inception Date info No
ETF Fund Facts - Expense Ratio info No
ETF Fund Facts - Net Assets info No
ETF Fund Facts - Total Holdings info No
ETFs - Top 10 Holdings info No
ETFs - Sector Exposure info No
ETFs - Risk Analysis info No
ETFs - Ratings info No
ETFs - Morningstar StyleMap info No
ETFs - PDF Reports info No
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Mutual fund research features

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Mutual Funds - Strategy Overview info No
Mutual Funds - Performance Chart info No
Mutual Funds - Performance Analysis info No
Mutual Funds - Prospectus info No
Mutual Funds - 3rd Party Ratings info No
Mutual Funds - Fees Breakdown info No
Mutual Funds - Top 10 Holdings info No
Mutual Funds - Asset Allocation info No
Mutual Funds - Sector Allocation info No
Mutual Funds - Country Allocation info No
Mutual Funds - StyleMap info No
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Options trading overview

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Option Chains - Basic View info Yes
Option Chains - Strategy View info No
Option Chains - Streaming info No
Option Chains - Total Columns info 8
Option Chains - Greeks info 1
Option Chains - Quick Analysis info Yes
Option Analysis - P&L Charts info No
Option Probability Analysis info No
Option Probability Analysis Adv info No
Option Positions - Greeks info No
Option Positions - Greeks Streaming info No
Option Positions - Adv Analysis info No
Option Positions - Rolling info No
Option Positions - Grouping info No
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Banking features

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Bank (Member FDIC) info No
Checking Accounts info No
Savings Accounts info No
Credit Cards info No
Debit Cards info No
Mortgage Loans info No

Customer service options

Feature Tradier logoTradier
Phone Support (Prospect Customers) info Yes
Phone Support (Current Customers) info Yes
Email Support info Yes
Live Chat (Prospect Customers) info No
Live Chat (Current Customers) info No
24/7 Support info No

About the Editorial Team

Sam Levine, CFA, CMT
Sam Levine, CFA, CMT

Sam Levine has over 30 years of experience in the investing field as a portfolio manager, financial consultant, investment strategist and writer. He also taught investing as an adjunct professor of finance at Wayne State University. Sam holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and the Chartered Market Technician designations and is pursuing a master's in personal financial planning at the College for Financial Planning. Previously, he was a contributing editor at BetterInvesting Magazine and a contributor to The Penny Hoarder and other media outlets.

Carolyn Kimball
Carolyn Kimball

Carolyn Kimball is managing editor for Reink Media and the lead editor for the StockBrokers.com Annual Review. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.

Steven Hatzakis
Steven Hatzakis

Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.

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