Choosing the right futures brokers that will meet your experience level and needs is essential when planning your trading business. Make sure to spend ample time evaluating brokerages that fit your personal needs as a trader.
What is a Futures Broker?
A futures or commodity broker executes orders to buy or sell futures contracts on behalf of their clients and charges them a commission for the transaction.
Types of Futures Brokers
Ultimately Futures Brokers fall into the following two categories:
Brokers for Professional Traders
Professional traders care about two things, speed of execution and commissions. As a professional trader for 20 years, my needs are going to be much different than someone who is just getting into trading.
Brokers for New Traders
New traders primarily care about education and look for platforms that are easy to learn. Brokerages who cater towards the new trader or investor are going to put a lot more resources into education and support for new traders. Those resources cost money and as a result you will typically see higher commissions.
About Our Futures Brokers Reviews
Jumpstart Trading is NOT being compensated in any manner by any of the brokerages discussed in this review.
Thus, you’re about to read a truly unbiased review from a professional trader based on what I believe are the strengths and weaknesses of each futures broker that made our list.
All of the Futures Brokers reviewed here are reputable brokers or they wouldn’t have made our list. Again, it really comes down to your experience and needs.
The best broker option may be different for you now then it will be a year down the road.
One component we left out of our scoring is charting software provided by the brokerages as none of them compare to the 3rd party products on the market today.
Futures Brokers Scoring
There’s several components we considered when scoring our list of futures brokers. If you’re evaluating any other broker not reviewed here today you’re going to want to take all of these key factors into consideration.
All components are scored on a scale of 1-5 (5 being best) or 1-10 (10 being best) depending on their importance.
Commissions – 1-10 Points: Commission structures and rates are the most important thing to evaluate when looking at brokers. Why? Because it determines your costs of doing business and what you will have in your account at the end of the day.
Customer Support – 1 – 5 Points: We look at a number of factors including response times, live chat, video training… just to name a few.
Products – 1-5 Points: Some brokers specialize in particular products like Futures or Options while others offer multiple products.
Innovation – 1-5 Points: It’s imperative your brokerage keeps up with the times as new tools, products, order types, and other technologies come into the market.
Security – 1-5 Points: Based on a broker’s capital position, balance sheet and automated risk controls.
Education – 1-5 Points: Education is for new traders. Professional traders will put less emphasis on this component.
Additional Components
The following components each account for One Point if the charting platform includes the component.
- Banking
- Mobile Application
- Paper Trading
- Trade Journal
- Desktop OS
- Free Demo
Highest possible Broker Rating is 46.
We’ve crunched the numbers… without further ado here’s how we rank the best future brokers for 2023.
Best Futures Brokers [2023]
1. Interactive Brokers
Website: https://interactivebrokers.com/
Minimum Account Size: $4,000 (Minimum for Futures)
Commission: $0.25 – $0.85
No Intraday Margins on Futures
Score: 42 of 46 Points
I opened my first account with Interactive Brokers 2006 and have been with them ever since.
IB has always ran their company conservatively and I know my money is safe at the end of the day. Interactive’s equity capital exceeds $8.1 billion, over $6.0 billion in excess of regulatory requirements.
Pair that with some of the most competitive commissions in the industry and a huge selection of products to trade and you have the best Futures Broker in my opinion.
IB’s platform is is dated and they’re not a leader in education, so if that’s what you’re looking for there’s probably better options.
I also should note that IB doesn’t offer lower margin requirements for intraday like EdgeClear or Optimus. Most traders, ESPECIALLY those who aren’t consistently profitable, should never use that kind of leverage.
Best For
-Experienced Traders
Pros
-Best commission pricing
-Well capitalized
-Huge selection of products to trade
Cons
-Platform is dated. Recommend using a 3rd party like MotiveWave for Charts.
-No Intraday Margin
Interactive Brokers Score Breakdown
Commissions: 10 of 10
Customer Support: 5 of 5
Platform/Tools: 3 of 5
Products: 5 of 5
Innovation: 5 of 5
Security: 5 of 5
Education: 3 of 5
Mobile App: Yes
Banking: Yes
Paper Trading: Yes
Trade Journal: Yes
OS: Windows & Mac
Demo: Yes
2. EdgeClear
Website: https://edgeclear.com/
Minimum Account Size: $1,500
Intraday Margins Varying by FCM
Commission: $0.22 (non-tiered) per futures contract per side depending on volume
Score: 37 of 46 Points
Morad Askar, a.k.a. FuturesTrader71, is not only the founder but a trader as well. Having been a professional trader for years, Morad has a unique insight of what professional traders really want… low commissions and great trading platforms. EdgeClear white labels MotiveWave, which we believe to one of the best charting softwares on the market today.
While they’re still a new brokerage who has a lot to prove, they sure are delivering on their description found on their home page.
“A forward-thinking futures broker. Led by award-winning industry experts who understand the complexities of trading, Edge Clear combines the best of technology, service and risk control.”
EdgeClear received a 1 point edge over Optimus for commissions, even though they are both very similar now. When EdgeClear entered the market a few years back they were very aggressive on their pricing, which eventually pushed others to follow suit.
A lot of our members use EdgeClear and have nothing but good things to say.
Best For
-New and Experienced Traders
Pros
-Fair commissions
-White Label MotiveWave
-Great Support
-Large Selection of Education on Youtube
Cons
-Futures only
EdgeClear Score Breakdown
Commissions: 8 of 10
Customer Support: 5 of 5
Platform/Tools: 5 of 5
Products: 3 of 5
Innovation: 5 of 5
Security: 3 of 5
Education: 5 of 5
Mobile App: No
Banking: No
Paper Trading: Yes
Trade Journal: No
OS: Windows & Mac
Demo: Yes
3. Optimus Futures
Website: https://optimusfutures.com/
Minimum Account Size: $500 (IronBeam)
Intraday Margins Varying by FCM
Commission: $0.15 – $0.50 per futures contract per side depending on volume
Score: 36 of 46 Points
Optimus could be considered a tie for second, but I decided to put them in a very close 3rd because of EdgeClear leading the push on lower commissions and do to reviews from our members. Optimus has been around a long time and provide a ton of education on their blog and YouTube channel.
You’re going to find very few differences between Optimus or EdgeClear. If you’re torn between the two I would look at what charting software you prefer, MotiveWave or Quantower.
Best For:
-New and Experienced Traders
Pros:
-Fair Commissions
-White Label Quantower
-Large Selection of Education on Youtube
Cons:
-Futures Only
Optimus Futures Score Breakdown
Commissions: 7 of 10
Customer Support: 5 of 5
Platform/Tools: 5 of 5
Products: 3 of 5
Innovation: 5 of 5
Security: 3 of 5
Education: 5 of 5
Mobile App: No
Banking: No
Paper Trading: Yes
Trade Journal: No
OS: Windows & Mac
Demo: Yes
4. TD Ameritrade
Website: https://www.tdameritrade.com/
Minimum Account Size: $1,500
Commission: $2.25 per futures contract per side
Score: 34 of 46 Points
Coming in fourth on our list is TD Ameritrade and their ThinkOrSwim platform. TD Ameritrade offers the best education for new traders out of the brokers reviewed today.
They’re also well capitalized and offer a ton of products to trade.
While they did make our list, I believe the only traders who should consider TD are new traders looking to trade longer term strategies.
They’re a good place to begin your career, but eventually you will want to move to a brokerage with better commission structures.
TD’s commissions on futures are over double any other broker reviewed in our list.
Best For
-New Traders
Pros
-Huge number of products to trade
-Best education for brand new traders
Cons
-High Commissions, they have to pay for that education some how!
TD Ameritrade Score Breakdown
Commissions: 1 of 10
Customer Support: 5 of 5
Platform/Tools: 4 of 5
Products: 5 of 5
Innovation: 4 of 5
Security: 4 of 5
Education: 5 of 5
Mobile App: Yes
Banking: Yes
Paper Trading: Yes
Trade Journal: Yes
OS: Windows & Mac
Demo: Yes
Choosing the Right Futures Broker
I want to reiterate that I have been professionally trading for over 20 years and would be happy with any of the futures brokers reviewed here today. You simply have to decide what your most important needs are as a trader, and that tends to change over time.
Prior to picking a broker, I would hone in on your strategy and what charting software you plan on using and then find a broker that supports your charting package. Switching and learning a new trading platform can be very disruptive to your trading.
As you progress as a trader the only things you will likely evaluate when it comes to brokerages are speed of execution, commission rates, and security.
Final Thoughts
Becoming a successful trader requires you to choose a broker that aligns with your trading and investing goals.
No matter your experience level, all the brokerage firms highlighted in this review deserve your evaluation.
Let us know your experiences with any of the brokerages discussed in the comments below!
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Adam
20 Year Professional Trader
Founder of JumpstartTrading.com
FULL BIO >
Thanks for the great reviews! What broker would you go with if you planned on trading multiple assets?
Interactive Brokers
Great objective reviews, thank you
Glad you found them helpful!