Status: v2 (marketing-strategist, 2026-04-21). Pricing unverified — WebFetch/WebSearch denied in this session. All numbers from training cutoff January 2026. Attempted live URL: https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/commissions-home.php. Timestamp of attempted fetch: 2026-04-21T00:00Z (blocked).
What they are
Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is the institutional-grade retail brokerage — the platform serious retail and small-professional traders graduate to for global market access, lowest margin rates in the industry, and deep instrument coverage (stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds, funds, crypto in some jurisdictions, 150+ markets in 33 countries).
Public, founded 1977 by Thomas Peterffy. Quant/market-maker DNA still visible.
Positioning (what they say about themselves)
"The Professional's Gateway to the World's Markets."
Direct-market access, sophisticated order routing, IB SmartRouting.
Lowest margin rates (benchmark + ~1.5% blended, material versus 8-12% at Robinhood/Schwab).
Two commission models: IBKR Lite (retail, commission-free US stocks, PFOF revenue) and IBKR Pro (professional, low per-contract fees, no PFOF).
Pricing (as of training cutoff 2026-01 — unverified)
IBKR Lite
- US stocks & ETFs: $0 commission
- Options: $0.65/contract (flat)
- No subscription
- PFOF enabled
IBKR Pro
- Fixed: $0.65/contract options, $0.005/share stocks (min $1/order, max 1% trade value)
- Tiered: $0.15–$0.65/contract options sliding with monthly volume (<10k = $0.65; 10k-50k = $0.50; 50k-100k = $0.25; >100k = $0.15)
- No PFOF
- Market-data: $4.50-$15/mo per bundle (US Equity, US Options, OPRA)
No SaaS subscription tier. Revenue is commissions + margin interest + market-data.
How Raxx differentiates (the one-paragraph answer)
IBKR is the best execution venue in retail and has no opinion about what trade to place; Raxx is the opinion layer and has no opinion about where to execute. Those are complementary, not competitive. IBKR assumes you arrive knowing the trade — they fill it cleanly, cheaply, across 33 countries. Raxx assumes you arrive with a P/L goal ("$1k/week premium, $3k max loss on SPX") and hands you three structures qualified on paper. The pitch to an IBKR power user: "Keep IBKR for execution. Use Raxx to decide what to execute." We also solve the UX problem IBKR has never solved — TWS is a 1990s-roots Java app with a legendary learning curve; Raxx is passkey-only, modern, one-persona-optimized, and deliberately the anti-TWS.
What they do well
Breadth. Nobody in retail matches IBKR's instrument + geographic coverage.
Execution quality. IB SmartRouting consistently rated best at fill-vs-NBBO.
Margin rates. For a $100k+ book with regular margin usage, real annual savings.
API depth. TWS API and IB Gateway are battle-tested, well-documented, support essentially any programmatic retail strategy.
Stability. Peterffy built to survive; counterparty risk is minimal.
Where Raxx has room
UX is famously hostile. TWS is 1990s-roots Java. Cottage industry of "IBKR for beginners" courses.
No AI / no proposal engine. IBKR assumes you know the trade.
No opinionated options workflow. TWS supports every structure via 400 knobs; no "propose 2-3 structures to my weekly target" flow.
No paper-trade retention as first-class feature. Paper account exists; not strategy-level audit-traced.
Market-data is a la carte. Running IBKR at home means assembling $4.50-$15/mo subscriptions. Raxx folds reasonable options-data into Pro.
Where they have room (honest)
Execution cost. IBKR Pro Tiered at volume is cheaper per contract than anything we could negotiate. We don't compete here.
Margin rates. A trader whose edge depends on cheap margin should use IBKR, full stop.
Regulatory comfort. IBKR since 1977. We are a startup. For the same fund balance, counterparty trust is not comparable — which is exactly why our broker-agnostic story is the right answer. We don't hold their money.
Implications for positioning
Integrate with IBKR as a broker target (Pro or Pro+). Single integration that most unlocks the "serious retail options trader" persona.
Position as "the research layer for your IBKR account." Never "replace IBKR."
Lean into UX as differentiation. "Keep the broker with the best margin rates in the industry. Stop spending your Sunday in TWS."
Watch-list signals
IBKR launching their own AI/proposal layer. Unlikely (they don't do feature-layer UX well), but a quant-startup acquisition would narrow the wedge.
Changes to IBKR Lite PFOF policy (SEC PFOF scrutiny ongoing).
Margin-rate shifts tied to Fed policy — rising rates widen IBKR's edge and make "bring your own broker" pitch more valuable.
Verification queue for human
[ ] Confirm IBKR Lite $0.65/contract options rate
[ ] Confirm IBKR Pro Tiered bands (10k/50k/100k contract thresholds and rates)