Best Futures Trading Platforms of 2024 (2024)

4 Best Futures Trading Platforms

4 Best Futures Trading Platforms

• Account Minimum: $0
• Commission: Ranges from $0.25 to $2.50 per contract ($5 for crypto futures); IBKR Pro customers pay on a tiered scale based on volume, while IBKR Lite customers pay a fixed rate
• For standard futures IBKR Lite customers pay $0.85 per contract. $0.25 per mini contract. Cryptocurrency futures $0.10 to $5 per contract. E-mini FX futures are $0.50 per contract.
• IBKR Pro customers pay $0.85 to $0.25 per contract (depending on volume). For mini contracts $0.25 to $0.10 per contract. Cryptocurrency futures $0.10 to $5 per contract. E-mini FX futures are $0.50 to $0.05 per contract. IBKR Pro customers also pay an overnight position fee.
• The minimum margin for intraday positions is $50.
• The standard exchange and regulatory fees apply.

In addition to being our top choice for professional futures traders, Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is also our top-rated broker for professional, advanced, and international traders. This is because IBKR offers more markets to trade through a single platform than any other broker. Moreover, IBKR’s trading technology is among the best of all online brokers.

Interactive Brokers was founded in 1978, and was the first company to use a hand-held computing device on an exchange floor. Since its inception, the company has strived to deliver its customers the best and most sophisticated trading tools available. Historically, the company has catered to the largest international traders because of their need for a single platform that can handle trades in markets around the world using different trading vehicles.

While IBKR has also developed tools to appeal to less sophisticated traders, such as introducing IBKR Lite to offer commission-free trading of stocks, the company continues to create advanced features for its professional trading clients. IBKR welcomes customers from around the world, which is something not all brokers do.

Among IBKR’s advanced features is the ability to backtest trading ideas, sophisticated options analysis tools, and a very wide array of order methods that includes one-cancels-other (OCO) and a multitude of conditional orders. In addition to these drop-down order entry tools, IBKR also allows traders to develop their own trading algorithms using a multitude of fundamental and technical indicators. Traders can develop automated entry and trade management instructions for trading all markets, including futures. Further, IBKR also has excellent order execution, including the ability to route equity orders. IBKR’s Adaptive Algo can also be used for futures to find the best execution on a market order.

When it comes to futures trading, IBKR is built for big traders. This isn’t just in terms of the volume discounts that only start after 1,000 contracts. IBKR also has higher margin requirements than other brokers. This acts as a risk management tool, ensuring you can handle a 1% to 2% swing in the underlying stock price. It is also another clear signal that IBKR is meant for larger professional traders.

Read Our Full Interactive Brokers Review.

• Account Minimum: $0 to open account; $50 is the minimum margin for trading
• Commission:Option 1 - Free: No monthly fee, with per side commissions of $0.35 for micro futures contracts and $1.29 for standard contracts. Option 2 - Monthly: $99 monthly fee, with per side commissions of $0.25 for micro contracts and $0.99 for standard contracts. Option 3 - Lifetime: $1,499 one-time payment, and per side commissions of $0.09 for micro contracts and $0.59 for standard contracts.For all plans, exchange, clearing, and National Futures Association (NFA) fees also apply.

We chose NinjaTrader as the best platform for dedicated futures traders because it offers multiple low-cost pricing options; low margin rates; and access to strong desktop, web, and mobile platforms that support direct trading from customizable charts.

NinjaTrader was established in 2003 to service active self-directed futures traders. In March 2023, NinjaTrader introduced new cloud-based, mobile, and web platforms that allow for seamless trading across all its platforms. In January 2023, the company announced a custom-built trading tool to support event-based futures. NinjaTrader platforms are free to use, and there is also simulated trading available without having to fund the account. The platform has excellent, customizable charting and real-time analysis. It also supports trading directly from charts. Further, the platform supports multiple apps and third-party add-ons.

Margin at NinjaTrader is aggressive, providing users with $50 intraday margin on equity index E-mini futures, and just $500 for standard futures contracts. NinjaTrader sets intraday margins at four times its standard rates for new positions established 15 minutes before and five minutes after key economic data releases. The low intraday margin is a significant reason for our decision to name NinjaTrader as our best broker for dedicated futures traders, as other futures brokers require high initial and maintenance margins for all futures positions. NinjaTrader only uses these higher initial and maintenance margins for positions held overnight, which is very appealing for active traders.

While the platform does not support equity trading or options trading on equities or futures, these markets can be traded through the NinjaTrader platform via other brokers’ APIs, including Interactive Brokers. Similarly, foreign exchange trading can be accomplished with pass-throughs to FXCM. Live futures trading on NinjaTrader, however, requires a data subscription that, while inexpensive, still represents another cost to the trader. Finally, we like that NinjaTrader offers 24-hour support during the trading week.

Read Our Full NinjaTrader Review.

• Account Minimum: $0
• Commission: $1.50 per contract, per side (cryptocurrency futures $2.50 per contract per side); exchange, clearing, and NFA fees also apply

We chose E*TRADE as the best broker for futures education because the platform offers extensive content and training resources to help educate and prepare investors to trade and invest for themselves, and this includes solid content specific to futures trading.

E*TRADE, one of the first online brokers, was established in 1982 and bought by Morgan Stanley in 2020. The company has been a consistent innovator and has continued to keep its platforms up to date with the times. While better known as more of a retail brokerage operation for those self-managing their own accounts, E*TRADE supports futures trading. The company’s robust platform, which supports multiple U.S. asset classes in a consolidated platform, appeals to both new investors and experienced traders.

While professional traders may choose online futures brokers with more bells and whistles, E*TRADE’s platform provides a solid futures trading experience. E*TRADE offers desktop, web, and two mobile platforms that are intuitive–especially considering how much content is available for trading and learning about markets.

E*TRADE futures trading requires 50% margin for day trades, but 100% for positions held overnight. For positions in individual retirement accounts (IRAs), you have to have 200% of initial requirements, and at least $25,000 in the account at all times. While E*TRADE’s futures commission rates are higher than some of the brokers more focused on futures trading, many customers will be happy to add futures trading functionality to their existing E*TRADE account.

E*TRADE’s futures page provides information on markets available and commissions, as would be expected, but it also offers articles such as “Five reasons why traders use futures,” “How can I diversify my portfolio with futures?,” and “How do I manage risk in my portfolio using futures?,” as well as a link to E*TRADE’s information library. From these articles, novice futures traders can access additional helpful content, such as information about expiration and settlement.

Read our Full E*TRADE Review.

• Account Minimum: $0
• Commission: $1.50 per trade per side, plus NFA, exchange, and overnight position fees; for micro futures, the fee is only $0.50 per trade

TradeStation is our top choice for desktop futures traders because its robust platform offers excellent tools for charting, order entry, and position management, along with reasonable margin rates.

Founded in Florida in 1982, TradeStation is designed for more advanced traders. The platform offers excellent charting, analytics, and trade management that includes control over order routing and advanced order capabilities.

For futures trading, TradeStation offers pretty competitive commission rates of $1.50 per side. Further, there are lower margin rates for intraday futures traders. Although the platform can take some time to learn, it is reasonably intuitive for traders with experience. Other features of the platform include simulated trading so customers can feel comfortable with the system and futures trading before putting real capital on the line.

In addition to futures, TradeStation supports trading in multiple asset classes, such as stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, options, futures, and options on futures. TradeStation offers free data for non-professionals for all of these markets. We did find that TradeStation’s customer service did not score as high as other futures brokers. Because of the strength of its desktop platform with its robust backtesting and availability of data, however, we have chosen TradeStation as our best desktop platform for futures.

Read Our Full TradeStation Review.