59.7% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
- Good Money Guide experts rate Interactive Brokers Options Trading highly, awarding it a total rating of 4.9/5. They commend its extensive market access, low fees, and advanced platform features that cater to both beginners and professional traders. However, they note the platform's complexity and the requirement for trading permissions as potential drawbacks.
- Across 1375 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 4.6/5, customers frequently highlight the platform's low costs, broad global market access, and advanced trading tools. Many users appreciate the user-friendly interface and efficient execution of trades, while some express concerns about the complexity of the platform and slower customer support responses.
Interactive Brokers Options Trading Expert rating
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.Our experts have rated Interactive Brokers Options Trading across five key areas of our review framework.
- Pricing5.0
- Market Access5.0
- App & Platform5.0
- Customer Service4.5
- Research & Analysis5.0
Pros
- Simple to use for beginners
- Global market access
- Expert tools for professionals
Cons
- Complex product
- Need to request trading permissions
- High minimum deposit
See full expert review
Our verdict
IBKR has one of the best options trading platforms for all types of clients because of their market range and strategy builders let you create options trading strategies visually and with AI.
59.7% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
Is Interactive Brokers good for options trading?
Interactive Brokers won "best options broker" in our 2025 and 2023 awards. They offer a huge range of markets to trade options on, low fees and platform features that enable you to easily create options strategies.
IBKR offers one of the most, if not the most, advanced options trading platforms for private clients, both for derivatives markets (indices, commodities, and forex) and stocks and shares. They provide access to a huge number of UK and international stock options, but where they really win business is through their execution capabilities.
Their strategy builder tool automatically creates the legs for spreads based on what you think is going to happen to the market and you can set your profit and loss visually through drag and drop charts.
For this review, I spent an hour or so talking to Steve Sanders, who runs product development for IBKR and it's epic. There is far too much to go into for a short piffy review and even an a options broker myself I found some of it overwhelming. If you are a professional options trader, I would say there is no better platform out there.
However, if you are just getting started trading option, IBKR has a new options tool called Options Wizard, which identifies options strategies according to market outlook, as well as the ability to add option chains into layouts and customise the data that is shown.
What's great about this is that it will create strategies around what you think will happen in the market rather than having to work it out longhand yourself. For exmaple, one of the most popular pieces of analysis we write is about whether or not the Lloyds share price will reach £1 in 2025. So to test IBKR's Options Wizard I asked it on the GlobalTrader app to to come up with an options strategy that would make me the most money if Lloyds reached £1 before the end of the year. 
Users can also now make use of options screeners, which sort and scan for option data within new dedicated sections and sub-tabs.
Options Wizard: Identify options strategies that match a market outlook.
Option Chain in Custom Layouts: Add one or multiple option chains into layouts and customize data columns to show option-specific data, such as the Greeks or Implied Volatility, and use color grouping to connect to other tools in the custom layout area, such as the Rapid Order Entry, to create trades.
Options Screeners: Sort and scan for option data with new dedicated sections and sub-tabs that offer complex combination strategies volume and trades for the day, among other features.
Customer reviews for Interactive Brokers
Customer ratings come from reviews left on this site. Every review is read and approved before it is published.Based on 1,375 reviews
- Excellent74%
- Very good14%
- Basic7%
- Poor2%
- Bad2%
What customers like
- Low fees and competitive pricing
- User-friendly platform
- Fast execution and reliability
What customers dislike
- Poor customer service
- Confusing account management
- Slow response times
Read customer reviews
5/5
Cons:
Improve Website and App
5/5
5/5
Pros:
iPhone app
5/5
Pros:
Simplicity and access to investments
Cons:
Cash transaction view
5/5
Pros:
Detailed information on every investment.
Cons:
N/A
5/5
Pros:
easy access and usage from phone app, good prices and charges, safety of money in the platform, leverage, interest offered on idle money
Cons:
easier access to help via phone app
3/5
Pros:
Good dealing/order placement options. Prices are ok.
Cons:
Get a half decent customer service centre where people actually read and understand what is being requested/asked
5/5
Pros:
Outstanding price structure, outstanding coverage of financial instruments that can be traded.
Cons:
Interface is relative complex for beginners.
5/5
Pros:
low cost
Cons:
better customer service
5/5
Pros:
Range of products
5/5
Pros:
no breakdowns during Trading sessions
Cons:
Performance
5/5
Pros:
Range of offerings (ISA, taxable)
Cons:
Happy with it
5/5
Pros:
Fantastic all round
Cons:
Nothing
4/5
Pros:
Security
Cons:
More markets
2/5
Pros:
Cheap option fees, fills
5/5
4/5
Pros:
Can have a US-based ISA with low fees
Cons:
Less intimidating user interface
5/5
Cons:
Simplicity
4/5
Pros:
Trading extensive platform
Cons:
Analysis and investment advices
4/5
Pros:
Cheap Dealing Costs
Richard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a career spanning two decades as a broker, he brings extensive expertise and knowledge to the financial landscape.
Having worked as a broker at Investors Intelligence and a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial), Richard has acquired substantial experience in the industry. His career began as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson), following internships on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 and 2000.
Richard’s contributions and expertise have been recognized by respected publications such as The Sunday Times, BusinessInsider, Yahoo Finance, BusinessNews.org.uk, Master Investor, Wealth Briefing, iNews, and The FT, among many others.
Under Richard’s leadership, the Good Money Guide has evolved into a valuable destination for comprehensive information and expert guidance, specialising in trading, investment, and currency exchange. His commitment to delivering high-quality insights has solidified the Good Money Guide’s standing as a well-respected resource for both customers and industry colleagues.