Skip to content
Financeradar
Interactive Brokers (IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro) logo

Interactive Brokers (IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro)

$0 stock and ETF commissions on IBKR Lite, no minimum, $0.65 per options contract, and IBKR Pro for lower margin rates than Lite.

Rates verified October 14, 2026
Online BrokersIRA Accounts
Open account

The Bottom Line

Best for
Active and advanced investors who want global markets and strong tools, and lower margin rates on Pro than on Lite.
Stock and ETF trades
$0 (verified Oct 14, 2026). All rates and fees

Key facts

  • Account minimum: None
  • Options: $0.65 per contract
  • IRAs: Traditional and Roth

Pros

  • $0 commissions and no minimum on IBKR Lite
  • IBKR Pro margin starts at 5.38% and falls to 4.38% for very large loans, against a flat 6.38% on Lite
  • Free to move your account out by ACATS
  • Six IRA types with no annual fee, and 24-hour phone support on weekdays

Cons

  • Lite's $0 commissions rely partly on payment for order flow
  • No interest on the first $10,000 of cash, and a lower rate under $100,000
  • Powerful but dense: more tools than most beginners need

At a glance

Rates verified October 14, 2026
Stock and ETF trades
$0 on IBKR Lite. IBKR Pro charges $0.005 per share, with a $1 minimum per order
Options
IBKR Lite: $0.65 per contract, $1 minimum per order. IBKR Pro: $0.15 to $0.65 per contract, by volume and premium
Mutual funds
Thousands of funds have no transaction fee. Other funds cost the lesser of 3% of the trade or $14.95
Account minimum
None
Cash sweep rate
0% on the first $10,000, then 2.38% on IBKR Lite or 3.38% on IBKR Pro (variable). Cash is not FDIC-insured by default
Margin rates
IBKR Lite 6.38% at every size. IBKR Pro 4.38% to 5.38%, falling as the loan grows
IRAs
Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, Rollover IRA, Inherited IRA (no annual IRA fee)
Fractional shares
Yes, from $1 on eligible US stocks and ETFs
Research and tools
News and research marketplace, screeners, options tools, Fundamentals Explorer, Risk Navigator and the Traders' Academy.
Support
Phone 24 hours from Sunday 1 p.m. to Friday 7:30 p.m. Eastern, plus chat, tickets and an assistant in the client portal.
Mobile app
IBKR Mobile for iOS and Android, with full trading.
SIPC
Member, excess policy from Lloyd's of London of up to $30 million per account ($150 million in total)
Transfer out
$0
Payment for order flow
Yes, IBKR Lite orders go to market makers that pay IBKR, which IBKR says can reduce price improvement for Lite clients. IBKR Pro does not receive payment for order flow on the venues in its report.
Other fees
On IBKR Lite, OTC and pink-sheet stocks, warrants and recurring investments are charged Fixed (Pro-style) pricing, and a per-share fee applies if open, close, after-hours or sub-$1 orders exceed 10% of monthly US stock volume. Two free withdrawals a month, then $1 to $10 each.

Sources: interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/commissions-s…, interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/commissions-o…, read October 14, 2026

What it costs in practice

$0 in commissions on 20 trades a year

Twenty online stock or ETF trades a year cost $0 in commissions here. Leave $10,000 sitting uninvested and the default setup pays about $0 over a year. IBKR pays nothing on the first $10,000 of cash. Rates move, and a high-yield savings account or a money market fund may pay more.

What to know before you open an account

Every provider has trade-offs. These are the ones we found on its own pages and in regulator records.

  • $0 commissions on IBKR Lite are funded in part by payment for order flow, which IBKR says can reduce price improvement for Lite clients.
  • Lite's $0 does not cover OTC and pink-sheet stocks, warrants or recurring investments, and a per-share fee applies if after-hours or open and close orders pass 10% of your monthly volume.
  • Cash interest is paid only above $10,000, and accounts under $100,000 earn a proportionally lower rate.
  • IBKR Lite margin is a flat 6.38%, against 4.38% to 5.38% on Pro.

Regulator record

  • Sep 30, 2025, Options exchanges (Nasdaq, MIAX, BOX and others). Coordinated orders from US options exchanges found Interactive Brokers mismarked about 2.4 million options transactions as Customer instead of Professional Customer because its order-counting logic left out some order types, and that its supervision of options origin codes was not reasonably designed. Total fines: $7.75 million. (Per FINRA BrokerCheck.) Read the source
  • Jul 15, 2025, U.S. Treasury OFAC. US Treasury OFAC settlement of apparent violations of several sanctions programs, including services to persons in Iran, Cuba, Syria and Crimea. OFAC found the conduct non-egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed. Settlement: $11.8 million. Read the source
  • Dec 22, 2023, FINRA. FINRA found Interactive Brokers' reviews of customer execution quality did not meet its best-execution review standards, including routing decisions and month-end routing changes for volume-based rebates. Fine: $3.5 million. Read the source
  • Sep 28, 2021, CFTC. CFTC order: Interactive Brokers did not adequately prepare its trading system for negative prices before 20 April 2020 crude oil futures trades, so negative prices were not shown to customers and margin was not correctly enforced. Penalty: $1.75 million, with customer losses it had already covered. Read the source

Where these numbers come from

Each figure above was read on the provider's own page. Fees and rates change, so check the page before you act.

What is Interactive Brokers (IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro)?

Sources read on the date shown
Interactive Brokers is the broker for people who want more range and sharper tools than the usual big-name brokerage: global markets and a deep options platform. It offers two plans. IBKR Lite is the commission-free one for US investors, IBKR Pro charges commissions but passes on better pricing and lower margin rates. On IBKR Lite, online US-listed stock and ETF trades cost $0 and there is no account minimum or maintenance fee. Options cost $0.65 per contract with a $1 minimum per order. IBKR Pro charges $0.005 per share with a $1 minimum per order on its fixed plan, and options from $0.15 to $0.65 per contract. Fractional shares start at $1. IRAs come as Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, Rollover and Inherited with no annual fee, and an outgoing ACATS transfer costs nothing. Margin loans cost a flat 6.38% on Lite and 4.38% to 5.38% on Pro. All figures were read on Interactive Brokers' own pages on 14 October 2026. Know the trade-offs. IBKR Lite earns part of its revenue from payment for order flow, which IBKR says can reduce price improvement for Lite clients. Cash earns nothing on the first $10,000, then 2.38% on Lite. There are Fixed-pricing exceptions on Lite, and the platform has more depth than a first-time investor needs. In 2023 FINRA fined IBKR $3.5 million over how it reviewed execution quality.
Sourceinteractivebrokers.com ↗

Key details

$0 commissions on US-listed stocks and ETFs (IBKR Lite)No account minimum and no maintenance feeOptions from $0.65 per contract on Lite, $0.15 to $0.65 on ProTraditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, Rollover and Inherited IRAs with no annual feeFractional shares from $1Free outgoing ACATS transfers

Explore more

Best Online BrokersBest IRA Accounts

Interactive Brokers (IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro) FAQ

Does Interactive Brokers charge commissions?

Not for online US-listed stocks and ETFs on IBKR Lite, which are $0. IBKR Pro charges $0.005 per share with a $1 minimum per order on its fixed plan. Options cost $0.65 per contract on Lite and $0.15 to $0.65 on Pro. Regulatory fees still apply on sales. Read on IBKR's pages on 14 October 2026.

What is the account minimum at Interactive Brokers?

$0 for both IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro, with no maintenance fee.

What interest does IBKR pay on cash?

Nothing on the first $10,000, then 2.38% on IBKR Lite or 3.38% on IBKR Pro (variable). Accounts with under $100,000 earn a proportionally lower rate. Pro's 3.38% is dated 21 September 2026.

Which IRAs does Interactive Brokers offer?

Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, Rollover and Inherited IRAs, with no annual fee. IRAs cannot borrow cash.

How does IBKR make money on a commission-free plan?

On IBKR Lite it receives payment for order flow from market makers, plus interest on balances and margin loans. IBKR says this can reduce price improvement for Lite clients. IBKR Pro charges commissions instead.

Source: interactivebrokers.com