Interactive Brokers Review 2024: Trading, Margin Loans, And More (2024)

Interactive Brokers (or IBKR for short) was one of the original online brokers. Over time, they've developed a full suite of products and tools to serve both beginner and advanced traders and investors.

If you're a trader, finding a platform that has the tools and a reasonable pricing structure can be tough. However, that's where Interactive Brokers is looking to gain your business.

While they may not be the best for some, they do have a compelling offer for those who are active. Check out how they compare to the top online brokers.

Plus, for those who don't need all their tools or features, they have Interactive Brokers Lite, which is a commission-free pricing plan.

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc., or IBKR as it is also called, was one of the original online brokers. Their past stretches back 40 years. They are a global operation with headquarters based in Greenwich, Connecticut.

They are regulated by the SEC, FINRA, NYSE, FCA and other regulatory agencies depending on the countries they operate in. IBKR is a NASDAQ-listed company under the symbol IBKR. IBKR was founded by its chairman and founder, Thomas Peterffy. Peterffy owns 75% of the company.

Interactive Brokers has the widest range of securities available for trading that we've seen. Basically, if you want to trade it, IBKR has it. Here a few examples of supported assets:

• Stocks
• Options
• Forex
• Futures
• Metals
• ETFs and mutual funds
• Bonds

Interactive Brokers also recently launched support for cryptocurrency trading. Currently, only Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin are supported. But the fee structure is highly competitive at 0.12% to 0.18% of trade value with no additional spreads or markups.

IBKR has several advanced trading platforms including:

• Client portal: See your account balances, do transfers, and most any other account-related activity
• Trader Workstation (TWS): Desktop trading platform
• IBKR Mobile: Mobile trading platform

It packs in one of the largest feature sets of any online brokerage that is broken down into the following categories:

• iBot: Is an AI tool for client self-service. The company recently replaced WebTrader with their more, powerful Client Portal.
• IBKR APIs: Allows developers to integrate their own software with IB’s back-end brokerage and trading services.

IBKR is oriented toward active traders and gives them all the technical tools necessary to analyze stocks, options, and trades. IBKR also has fast-trade executions through its SmartRouting system.

IBKR offers over 100 order types, which absolutely boggles the mind. It's also a low-cost leader in margin rates. The amount you pay depends on your account balance and whether you're a IBKR Lite or Pro user. Here's IB's margin rate table for U.S. residents.

Most U.S. brokers don't allow residents of other countries to open accounts. But Interactive Brokers joins Charles Schwab as one of the few trading platforms that tries to appeal to international citizens and expats.

Residents of over 200 countries and territories can open accounts with IBKR. And the platform provides access to over 150 financial markets.

• Traders' Academy
• Traders' Insight
  
• IBKR Quant Blog
  
• Webinars
  
• Traders' Glossary
• Traders' Calendar
• Traders' Insight Radio (new podcast series)

Interactive Brokers offers a variety of managed portfolio options under its "Interactive Advisors" product umbrella. Each of the portfolios are well-diversified and built to match your risk tolerance.

Interactive Advisors portfolios come with AUM fees that range from 0.08% to 0.75%. Many have an investment minimum of $100, but some are higher.

IBKR has two pricing plan tiers: Lite and Pro. Here are the pricing structures for each:

IBKR Lite

Lite: There are no commissions on stock and ETF trades. Lite gives you all the same tools as IBKR Pro—the main difference is commission-free trading on stocks and ETFs for Lite.

IBKR Pro

IBKR Pro has two different commission structures — fixed and tiered. Fixed is for lower volume while tiered is for higher volume.

In the fixed commission structure, stocks and ETFs are $0.005 per share with a $1.00 minimum. The maximum fee is 1.0% of the trade value.

Tiered pricing for stocks and ETFs starts at $0.0035 with a minimum of $0.35 and maximum of 1.0% of the trade value for 300,000 or more shares. At over 100 million shares, the price drops to $0.0005 with the same minimum and maximum.

For options contracts, there is also a tiered structure as shown in the table below. Keep in mind these are only for the first 10,000. For more information, visit their site.

Why would anyone choose to become an IBKR Pro member if they can pay $0 commissions on stocks and ETFs with Lite? Because only Pro members get to use IBKR's SmartRouting technology with its average price improvement of $0.62 per 100 shares.

If you're a low-volume trader, IBKR Lite is probably the way to go. But if you trade a lot of shares every month, you may actually be better off choosing the Pro pricing plan so that you can be sure that your trades are being routed as efficiently as possible.

Interactive Brokers (IB) is hard to beat for active traders. Its list of supported assets, markets, and order types are virtually unmatched in the industry.

However, if you're looking to invest in managed portfolios, other brokers have lower minimums and fees. You'll also need to look elsewhere if you're hoping to invest inside a Solo 401(k). Here's a closer look at how IBKR compares:

Visit the Interactive Brokers website to start your account application. The information that IBKR asks for will vary depending on where you live. But U.S. residents who are simply looking to open a taxable account will need to provide the following:

• Social Security Number (or proof of ID number if you're a non-citizen)
• Employer name, address, and phone number
• Bank or third-party broker account information (for funding purposes)

Interactive Brokers is an SIPC member which means that its clients' securities are protected by SIPC insurance up to $500,000 ($250,000 for cash). IBKR has also purchased an excess SIPC policy with Lloyd's of London for up to an extra $30 million ($900,000 for cash) and provides up to $2.5 million of FDIC protection for cash deposits above these limits.

IBKR takes data security seriously as well. Its deploys 2048-bit EV Certificates and a minimum of TLS 128-bit encryption on its website. Two-factor authentication is used to verify account logins. And customers with account balances of at least $1 million can even request to be sent a physical security device.

In addition to its iBot AI assistance, IBKR offers 24/7 live chat support. It also provides phone support in the following countries and geographic areas:

• Canada
• Europe
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• India
• Japan
• Russia
• Singapore
• United States

U.S. customers can call toll-free at 1-877-442-2757 or can direct dial 1-312-542-6901. IB's U.S. customer service hours are Mon - Fri, 8 AM-8 PM (EST) and Sun, 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM (EST). Email support is also available here.

Currently, Interactive Brokers is rated 3.3/5 (Average) on Trustpilot out of more than 1,400 customer reviews. On the Better Business Bureau (BBB), IBKR is currently rated A+.

Why Should You Trust Us?

I have been writing about and reviewing investment firms and brokerages since 2009, and havereviewed almost every US-based investment firm open to individual investors. I have seen this space evolve from high cost to low cost options, and have seen the amount of investment tools grow for individuals.

Furthermore, we have beenpolling our audience for yearsto find out which investment firms they trust and use, and that's how we put together our annual rankings of the best investment companies.

Finally, we have our compliance team that regularly checks and updates the facts on our reviews.

IBKR is a powerful trading platform and can meet the needs of any trader. Because of its volume-oriented trading structure and powerful trading platform, it is more suited for active traders and those that need lots of tooling for analysis.

People who trade infrequently might find IBKR a little overwhelming and commissions on the higher side. If you want to look at a few alternatives, check out our top brokers list.