We owe a THANK YOU to our readers: Our original review only contained 10 online brokerages. We checked out this site because many disgruntled readers felt that OptionsXpress should be included. They were absolutely right, we were shocked by how competitive this site is with all of the other online brokerages. They have great prices, a full line of products, and great analysis tools… Granted, we dropped the ball when we missed them but, in our defense, why would you limit yourself with a name like OPTIONSXpress when you’re a high-quality full-service brokerage??? Anyway, back to the point, this brokerage is the reason we ranked the top 11 rather than the top 10.

OptionsXpress is an industry leader in the navigation category. Their site is fun and easy to navigate, everything is well organized and the entire site has a consistent design and appearance so you can get comfortable quickly.

Every page can be customized. When you log in, it feels like you’re logging into your own personal trading platform. Creating your account overview page (basically your homepage) is very easy, you just drag and drop your favorite modules around the screen. They also don’t make your main page overly complex, which is refreshing for an options specialty site. You can go to the greeks, analysis or charting areas whenever you want but the home page is clean and simple.

0-8 trades per quarter
Internet Trades = $14.95 per trade. Add + $0.01 per share beyond 1,000 shares
Interactive Voice System = No additional charge.
Broker Assisted = No additional charge.

9+ trades per quarter
Internet Trades = $9.95 per trade. Add + $0.01 per share beyond 1,000 shares
Interactive Voice System = No additional charge.
Broker Assisted = No additional charge.

1-10 Contracts
Internet Trades = Whether you buy 1 or 10 contracts, you pay a flat $12.95 fee for the transaction, no additional per contract charge. Tip: Buy 10 contracts at a time and this beats most competitors.
Interactive Voice System = No additional charge.
Broker Assisted = No additional charge.

20 Contracts
Internet Trades = Flat $25.00 fee, no additional per contract charge.
Interactive Voice System = No additional charge.
Broker Assisted = No additional charge.

Treasuries, Bonds and CDs = $5 each, $14.95 minimum
Exercise or Assignment = $9.95
Tip: Don't let the name fool you, OptionsXpress has a wide variety of bond and treasury products.

Every OptionsXpress phone rep we talked to was knowledgeable and friendly. They were able to answer almost every question immediately and they were back on the line very quickly on the rare occasion they needed to research before answering.
Wait times were short, all of our calls went through quickly.

Support hours are very limited right now, but during our survey calls, reps said that they are about to expand hours. They will expand Monday through Friday support from 9AM-5PM to 9AM-10PM. This will add some much needed flexibility, many online investors can't use phone support until they're home from work in the evenings.

Live chat support is a great perk and OptionsXpress was one of the first in the industry to offer this helpful service. Hours for live chat are Mon-Fri 8AM-7PM and Sat 10AM-2PM. They also have a great FAQs section but with all of the education material and step-by-step guides available you won’t need it often.

When you compare OptionsXpress to competitors in the research category they come up short. They don’t offer near as much basic trading information and don’t provide access to many 3rd party experts. They do offer some news resources but only enough to help you keep up with the latest trends and hottest stocks, there’s no in-depth research.

However, they shine in the Options category. Derivatives trading is complex and risky, you can lose a lot of money very fast. Most new option traders don’t last very long even if they are experienced traders because they either receive very little or very poor training. After a few big losses, most run back to the safety of traditional investment vehicles such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds.

OptionsXpress does a good job of keeping the trading screen clean and simple for basic products like Stocks, ETFs and Mutual Funds. The trickier part is to keep it simple for Option traders and we were impressed with OptionsXpress’s solution.
They have designed a powerful proprietary option ordering screen that will allow you to create complex spread and contingent orders with very little expertise. As long as you understand the basics of the option trade you’re trying to create, even complex Iron Condor orders will be a snap.

We love the paper trading concept, especially for people considering a high risk strategy such as options trading. Virtual Trade Platform allows clients to test any option trading style (spreads, butterflies, straddles, etc) they're interested in before risking real money. This tool reminded us a lot of Schwab's StreetSmart, it's flexible, powerful and easy to use as long as you take the time to read the guide.

No additional charge for broker assisted trades. This is a first, we haven't seen this offered at any competitor. A very nice perk, hopefully this will catch on.

Screening tools have become pretty standard at most online brokerages, you can usually count on having free access to a tool that will spit out a list of potential investments based on criteria that you select. Fewer brokerages have additional tools that can analyze the Screener's results and narrow them down to a small list of high potential investments. And only a couple competitors have tools that can take this tiny list and dissect it lots of different ways to help you understand the risks, pros and cons of each investment.

OptionsXpress has all of these tools... for Options. If they ever develop tools this good for long-term traders trying to identify high-potential Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds, they may become the Microsoft of online investing.

We haven't seen anything similar to the Online Trading Toolbar at competitors yet but I think we will soon, it’s a cool and innovative idea. No matter where you are online, the OptionsXpress Toolbar provides continuous access to your account information, quotes, chains, quotes, charts and even the trading screen. You can also link directly to some of OptionsXpress's more popular tools such as the StrategyScan, Volatility View, or Virtual Trade Platform.