Options trading fees at 13 brokers: per-contract fees, index options, exercise and assignment, and the small regulatory fees, from their own pages
An options trade can carry a per-contract fee set by the broker plus small regulatory and clearing fees passed through to you. As of October 31, 2026 (Eastern time):
- No per-contract fee on stock and ETF options at 11 of the 13: Robinhood, Webull, moomoo, Public, eToro USA and Firstrade, and, by its 2025 announcement, SoFi.
- $0.65 a contract at Schwab, Fidelity, Merrill Edge and E*TRADE (E*TRADE $0.50 for 30 or more trades a quarter), and at IBKR Lite. Vanguard charges $1 below $1 million in assets.
- Index options cost extra almost everywhere: Robinhood $0.50 ($0.35 with Gold), Webull $0.50, moomoo $0.50, Public $0.35, plus exchange fees.
- The FINRA trading activity fee is paused from October 1 through December 31, 2026; some fee schedules still show the old rate (details).
13 brokers
| Broker | Stock and ETF options, per contract | Index options | Exercise and assignment | Pass-through fees it lists | Other | Pages read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Schwab | $0.65 “$0 online base commission + $0.65 per contract fee” | Exchange index fees passed on as an “Industry Fee”; rates not shown | “There are no commissions or per-contract fees assessed on transactions resulting from options exercises and assignments.” | ORF in the Industry Fee; rate not shown | “Per-contract fees are waived for buy-to-close options trades executed online for $0.05 or less.” | Schwab, pricing; Schwab, pricing guide |
| E*TRADE | $0.65 ($0.50 with 30+ trades a quarter) “Options contract fee $0.65 $0.50” | Index option fee: SPX $0.54, NDX $0.66, VIX $0.30, RUT $0.17 | “Exercise / assignments $0 $0” | “For options orders, an options regulatory fee will apply.” (no rate shown) | “Close short options priced at 10ยข or less, no contract fee” | E*TRADE, pricing and rates |
| eToro USA | $0 “Zero commission and no per-contract fees.” | No index options listed | Not listed | ORF and OCC $0.02 a contract each (fee schedule updated Oct. 1, 2026) | “A $2/month operational fee applies. etoro waives this fee for accounts with $5,000 or more in total portfolio value at month end.” | eToro US, options; eToro USA, fee schedule (PDF) |
| Fidelity | $0.65 “Online options trades are subject to a fee of $0.65 per contract” | Index fees per contract, for example SPX $0.50, NDX $0.45, VIX $0.30 | “Exercises and assignments are commission-free and are not charged a per contract fee.” | “The ORF has ranged from $0.02 to $0.04 per contract but is subject to change at any time.” | Buy-to-close orders online for options priced up to 65 cents are free | Fidelity, commissions; Fidelity, fee schedule (PDF) |
| Firstrade | $0 “Contract Fee $0 Exercise and Assignment Fees $0” | Not listed | $0 (same line) | ORF $0.02 a contract from July 1, 2026 | Broker-assisted options trades cost more | Firstrade, pricing |
| Interactive Brokers | Lite: $0.65; Pro: $0.15–$0.65 by volume and premium “IBKR Lite accounts are charged a fixed rate commission on the first 1,000 U.S. option contracts traded per month.” | Exchange fees by exchange | “Commissions are not charged for US exercise and assignment.” | “FINRA Consolidated Audit Trail Fees: USD 0.0003 /contract”; OCC 0.025; it notes the “Fee Holiday of Trading Activity Fee for trades from Oct 1, 2026 through Dec 31, 2026.” | Pro: minimum USD 1.00 an order | Interactive Brokers, options commissions |
| Merrill Edge | $0.65 “$0.65 per contract” | Not listed | $0, except cash-settled options at $0.65 a contract | Sale transaction fee $0.01–$0.03 per $1,000 | — | Merrill Edge, pricing |
| moomoo | $0 “Commission $0 Moomoo Financial Inc. Contract Fees $0 Moomoo Financial Inc.” | $0.50 a contract plus exchange index fees | Not listed | “OCC Fees $0.025 / Contract”; “Options Regulatory Fee (ORF) $0.0122/ Contract”; “Trading Activity Fee (TAF) $0.00 per contract” | Extended options hours: a learn article on Cboe's October 19, 2026 sessions | moomoo, pricing |
| Public | $0 (index: $0.35) “Options (Stocks & ETFs)3 Options (Index Options)4 Regular Fees $0 $0.35 per contract” | $0.35 a contract plus exchange index fees | Not listed | “Options regulatory fee (ORF) $0.02 per contract (option buys & sells).”; “OCC clearing fee $0.02 per contract (option buys & sells). Fees are capped at $55.” | “Receive a rebate of $0.06-0.18 per stock or ETF options contract if you enroll in the Options Rebate Program.” “Note that index options trades are not eligible for Options Rebates.” | Public, fee schedule (updated Oct. 13, 2026); Public, rebate terms |
| Robinhood | $0 “No contract fees or commissions for all stock and ETF options.” | “Non-Gold Rate: $0.50 per options contract (buys and sells) Gold Rate: $0.35 per options contract (buys and sells)” | Not listed | ORF and OCC together “$0.04 per options contract (buys and sells).” Its help page: “The trading activity fee (TAF) is temporarily paused from October 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026 per FINRA.” | Index options SPX, VIX, XSP and RUT trade until 5 p.m. ET | Robinhood, options; Robinhood, fee schedule (PDF); Robinhood, trading fees |
| SoFi Invest | $0 (announcement) Its October 2025 announcement: “no commissions, no contract fees” | Not checked | “SoFi is also removing fees associated with options exercise and assignment” | Not checked: its fee schedule's robots.txt disallows automated reading, and its pages are drawn by script | — | SoFi, announcement (Oct. 2, 2025) |
| Vanguard | $1 (under $1 million in assets) “$0 + $1-per-contract fee” | Not listed | “All options exercises and assignments are commission-free.” | Not listed | Accounts with $1 million or more in qualifying assets get their first 25 or 100 trades without the fee; schedule effective July 10, 2026 | Vanguard, brokerage fees (PDF) |
| Webull | $0 (index: $0.50) “Webull does charge a $0.50 per contract fee for certain index option trades.” | $0.50 a contract for certain index options | Not listed | Shown in a script-drawn tab of its pricing page | “Webull charges a fee of $0.10 per contract for all option orders above 500 contracts, except for Index options.” Hours: “With Webull, trading for eligible options starts at 7:30 AM ET and continues until 4:15 PM ET.” | Webull, pricing; Webull, options; Webull, options extended hours |
The small pass-through fees
- Options Regulatory Fee (ORF), charged by the options exchanges per contract: listed as $0.0122 at moomoo, $0.02 at Public, eToro USA and Firstrade, and $0.02 to $0.04 at Fidelity.
- OCC clearing fee: $0.025 at moomoo and Interactive Brokers, $0.02 at Public and eToro USA.
- FINRA trading activity fee (TAF) on option sales: FINRA set it to $0 from October 1 through December 31, 2026. Robinhood's help page and Interactive Brokers, moomoo and eToro USA show the pause; Robinhood's PDF fee schedule and Public's fee schedule still list a rate. See the FINRA TAF by broker.
- CAT fee: $0.0003 a contract at moomoo, Robinhood and Interactive Brokers; see the CAT fee.
Quick answers
Which brokers charge no options contract fee?
For stock and ETF options: Robinhood, Webull, moomoo, Public, eToro USA and Firstrade on their pricing pages, and SoFi by its October 2025 announcement. Regulatory and clearing pass-through fees still apply at most of them.
Is Schwab's options fee $0.65?
Yes: $0 commission plus $0.65 a contract online, with no fee on exercises and assignments and none on buy-to-close orders at $0.05 or less.
Does Public pay me to trade options?
If you enroll in its rebate program, $0.06 to $0.18 a contract on stock and ETF options, depending on the tier; index options are excluded. Public's terms say the amounts are examples based on its payment-for-order-flow revenue.
What is eToro's $2 a month?
An operational fee on its options accounts, waived at $5,000 or more in total portfolio value at month end.
How we checked
- Each broker's pricing page, fee schedule PDF or help page, read October 31, 2026 and saved. Where the web page and the PDF differed (eToro USA), we used the more recent PDF.
- SoFi's fee schedule is disallowed for automated reading by its robots.txt and its pages are drawn by script, so we used its announcement. Webull's regulatory fee tab is drawn by script.
What this page does not cover
- Margin, assignment risk and options approval levels.
- Which broker to use. We report what each one publishes.
Rechecks and changes
We will read the pages again after the TAF pause ends on December 31, 2026.
- . First published.
Sources are linked in each row. This page contains no affiliate links. It is not investment advice.