5 Best Online Broker Platforms For Options Traders. Options trading can be simple, but can quickly get complicated. Online brokers provide customers tools to handle the tons of quotes, statistics and underlying-securities tracking they might need to succeed in trading puts and calls. IBD's 2013 Best Online Brokers Survey found the five options trading platforms that clients rated highest. They were OptionsXpress , TD Ameritrade ( AMTD ), Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab ( SCHW ) and TradeStation . "Options can be used by a wide variety of investors to target a wide variety of objectives," said Jim Bittman, director of program development and a senior instructor for the Options Institute at the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Brokerage firms have developed platforms to help options traders of all levels, from novices who buy a call or put to advanced folks who put on multilegged positions. While some platforms are bare-bones, others have a barrage of features such as streaming data, sophisticated analytics and pricing tools. Investors can choose a platform that's Web-based or downloaded as a separate program. A Web-based trading platform is accessed from your broker's website. These are generally less fancy and less customizable. Downloaded platforms tend to use flashier charts and tools. They also tend to give users the ability to customize screens and layouts.
OptionsXpress, owned by Schwab, has offerings for clients ranging from beginners to more sophisticated traders. The broker's Web-based platform is not flashy, but is laid