Best Futures Trading Platforms for June 2024

Futures trading can be an exciting and complex way to put your money to work, but not every broker allows their clients to trade futures. For this reason, we've compiled a list of the best futures brokers we've found. Keep reading to for our top futures brokers, how to open an account for futures trading, and more.

3 Featured Picks From Our Best Futures Trading Platforms

There are a lot of options to compare, even on this page. It can be overwhelming! If you're looking for a place to start, here are some trading platforms our experts recommend and why they like them:

• NinjaTrader: Leading futures broker with the tools needed for an in-depth analysis
• Interactive Brokers: Great broker for advanced futures traders
• Tastytrade: Standout option for serious futures traders

How do I choose a futures broker?

Here are some questions to ask when comparing futures brokers:

• Do you want to trade futures in the same place where you keep your long-term investments and retirement accounts? Some brokers only offer a trading platform and one or two account types, while others have pretty much any kind of investment account you can think of, and then some.
• Does the broker offer educational resources? Whether you're new to futures or just seeking more information, a broker that offers extensive educational resources could be a smart idea.
• What is the cost of trading futures with the broker? You'll pay a per-contract fee to trade futures, and this can vary widely from platform to platform, and even within the same platform, it can vary based on the type of futures contracts and the volume you're trading.

It's also important to make sure any brokerage you consider offers securities you're interested in. Whether that means a specific futures contract, stocks, bonds, or other investments -- not all brokerages carry all types of securities or even all types of futures contracts.

NinjaTrader

Best futures brokerage for investors who: Want a platform designed specifically for futures trading.

NinjaTrader could be an excellent choice for traders who are exclusively interested in futures. It was designed with futures trading in mind, and that's the only type of investment that is available through the platform. It has an excellent futures-focused trading platform and reasonable commissions, but admittedly, a platform focused exclusively on futures trading isn't likely to be a great fit for everyone.

Why futures traders might love NinjaTrader

• Powerful platform: NinjaTrader was designed specifically for futures trading and offers desktop, web, and mobile platforms -- all of which are built for futures trading. There are charting tools, thousands of apps and add-ons, and a fully customizable interface.
• Commissions: NinjaTrader uses a unique pricing model with a monthly or one-time fee, plus smaller commissions. Even the highest-commission "Pay As You Trade" plan with no monthly fee has a $1.29 standard commission for futures contracts.

Why futures traders might not choose NinjaTrader

• No other investment types: One negative that could be a deal breaker for some is that NinjaTrader only offers futures trading. It doesn't offer stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, options, or anything else.
• For experienced traders: If you're new to trading futures and want to learn, NinjaTrader might not be the best fit for you. It was designed with advanced traders in mind.

Read our full review of NinjaTrader.

Interactive Brokers

Best futures brokerage for investors who: Want a powerful trading platform for futures and more.

Interactive Brokers was designed with traders in mind -- specifically those who trade at high volumes. For futures traders, high-volume accounts enjoy commission rates as low as $0.25 per futures contract, which is remarkably low compared to most competitors. While its sophisticated trading experience and tiered pricing structure aren't for everyone, Interactive Brokers belongs on the short list of any active futures trader.

Why futures traders might love Interactive Brokers

• Low commissions: Interactive Brokers offers some of the lowest futures commissions on our radar, with a tiered pricing structure that ranges from $0.25 to $0.85 per contract.
• International markets: Unlike most U.S. brokers, Interactive Brokers allows customers to trade directly on 150 different stock markets around the world.
• Powerful platform: Interactive Brokers offers a powerful desktop trading platform (Trader Workstation), as well as a high-powered mobile trading app (IBKR Mobile).

Why futures traders might not choose Interactive Brokers

• Difficult for beginners: Interactive Brokers is generally not a beginner-friendly investment platform, designed for experienced traders. If you're just getting started and trying to learn futures trading, it might not be the best fit.
• Complicated pricing: Interactive Brokers uses tiered pricing with most instruments (including futures), and this can make it complicated to understand what you're paying. Futures contract commissions are based on total monthly trading volume, which can vary from month to month.

Read our full review of Interactive Brokers.

Tastytrade

Best futures brokerage for investors who: Want to trade options and futures using the best technology.

Tastytrade was created with options and futures traders in mind, and the platform was founded by the same team that created the highly successful thinkorswim trading software (which is now owned by Charles Schwab). It not only has the latest and greatest trading technology, but also has some of the most competitive pricing in the industry.

Why futures traders might love Tastytrade

• Top-notch platform: Tastytrade's platform was built by the team that pioneered retail options trading. Its platform not only offers complex tools and a user-friendly way to place complicated trades, but also offers excellent educational resources for those who want to learn more about futures trading.
• Stock trading capabilities: Unlike some of the other top futures platforms, Tastytrade allows for stock trading, in addition to futures and options.
• Commissions: Tastytrade charges $1.25 per standard contract for futures trading, which is on the lower end of the spectrum.

Why futures traders might not choose Tastytrade

• Doesn't offer some investments: You can't buy and sell mutual funds on Tastytrade, and in general, the platform is built for short-term traders, not investors.

Read our full review of Tastytrade.

TradeStation

Best futures brokerage for investors who: Want a sophisticated platform for futures, options, and much more.

TradeStation's main focus is on its trading platform, which offers tons of advanced features for trading futures, options, and more. While it isn't the cheapest option for trading futures, TradeStation has extremely high ratings for both its desktop and app-based platforms, and could be worth a closer look.

Why futures traders might love TradeStation

• Trading platform: TradeStation's key strength is its trading platform, especially the flagship TradeStation desktop platform. It has advanced features, such as automated trading strategies and sophisticated futures analysis.
• Lots of investment choices: TradeStation could be a great choice for traders who like to keep all of their investments in the same place. In addition to futures, TradeStation facilitates stocks, options, mutual funds, Forex trading, and bonds. This level of variety is rare for a trading-focused platform.

Why futures traders might not choose TradeStation

• No basic platform: TradeStation doesn't have a basic, no-frills investment platform that is easy to navigate. Even its basic web-based platform can be difficult for beginners to navigate and use effectively.
• Commissions: While we wouldn't call TradeStation's commissions high, the standard rate of $1.50 per futures contract is significantly higher than some of our other top futures brokers.

Read our full review of TradeStation.

Charles Schwab

Best futures brokerage for investors who: Want to trade futures with a full-featured brokerage platform.

Charles Schwab is one of the only traditional, full-featured brokers to offer futures trading, which makes it an excellent choice for investors who also want access to educational content, stock research, retirement accounts, and much more all in one platform. However, with a standard commission of $2.25 per futures contract, it isn't the cheapest platform around.

Why futures traders might love Charles Schwab

• Lots of features: Charles Schwab is one of the largest brokerage firms in the world, and has more trading tools, educational resources, and stock research access compared with many other brokers that offer futures trading.
• Trading platform: Charles Schwab offers the thinkorswim trading platform, which came as part of its acquisition of TD Ameritrade. This is a high-powered platform that was designed with options and futures traders in mind.
• Branch network: Not only does Charles Schwab offer 24/7 phone support, but it also has over 340 branches throughout the United States.

Why futures traders might not choose Charles Schwab

• Commissions: We wouldn't exactly call Charles Schwab's $2.25 per contract futures trading commissions expensive, but it certainly isn't among the lowest-priced brokers on the list.

Read our full review of Charles Schwab.

How to open a futures trading account

Once you've decided on a brokerage that supports futures trading, the next step is to open an account.

You'll need to provide some personal information, including your Social Security number.

You may have to fill out a tax form, as brokerage firms need to be able to send you tax documents every year detailing your profits, losses, interest, etc.

You may need to answer a quick questionnaire about your knowledge and experience about these products. Some brokers want to make sure you have some knowledge of investing before you begin trading futures, to mitigate risk.

What are futures?

Futures are agreements to sell a fixed amount of an asset at a specific date in the future -- instead of buying a commodity, currency, or other asset at today's market price.

How do futures work?

Futures are traded in the form of contracts, which are agreements between the seller of an asset and the buyer, or futures trader. For example, one oil futures contract typically represents 1,000 barrels of oil to be delivered at a certain future date. Futures contracts can represent a wide variety of commodities, currencies, stock indices, and more.

There are a couple of other types of futures and related investments worth knowing about:

Options on futures: These work similarly to stock options. A futures option gives you the right (but not the obligation) to buy or sell a certain futures contract at a predetermined price at any time before the option's expiration date.

E-Mini futures: E-mini futures are contracts that represent a smaller amount of assets than the standard contract. For example, CME's E-mini S&P 500 futures contract represents one-fifth the assets of its standard S&P 500 futures contract. Because they represent smaller quantities of assets, many brokers offer lower commission rates on E-mini contracts.

What can you trade futures on?

Just to name a few, here are some of the types of futures contracts you can trade:

• Stock index futures
• Interest rates
• Metals
• Foreign currency
• Energy
• Livestock
• Commodities

Pros and cons of futures trading

How much money do you need to trade futures?

This depends on your broker and the futures you want to trade.

Some brokers have a minimum amount of money that must be in an account before futures trading can take place. Others don't have a set minimum.

There's also margin minimums to consider, which have to do with the specific futures contracts you want to trade. This is a different concept than using margin to trade stocks, and is the minimum amount of money you'll need in your account in order to trade a specific type of futures contract. This can vary based on a few factors, including the volatility of that particular type of futures.

While you may be able to open a futures trading account with a relatively small amount of money, in reality you may need significantly more in your account to start trading the types of futures you're interested in.

Risks of futures trading

The risks of futures trading are quite complicated and could be the topic of their own long-form article. But there are a couple of big risks that are important to keep in mind before you open an account.

First, futures trading generally uses a lot of leverage. When trading stocks on margin, you can typically get two-to-one leverage, meaning that you can buy $10,000 in stock with a $5,000 account balance. When it comes to futures, there can be significantly higher leverage -- as much as 20 to one. This can be both a positive factor (higher profits) as well as a big negative factor. Because of this, if your futures trade starts going in the wrong direction, you may be required to deposit more money to cover the maintenance margin requirements and could ultimately result in big losses.

Second, while it might seem obvious, futures contracts are speculative investments that are based on the future price of something. And there's a lot that can happen between now and then. There was a famous situation in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic where oil demand crashed when everyone went into lockdown, and oil futures were actually trading for negative values because there was simply nowhere to put all of the oil they represented.

These aren't the only risks of futures trading. It's important to study the risks and benefits of futures before you attempt to trade them.

Is futures trading right for you?

It depends. Like any other kind of trading, futures are appropriate for investors who really know what they're doing. Futures trading can be risky. For one thing, futures investors often use a significant amount of margin (leverage) when trading. Think of margin as borrowing a portion of an investment's value -- similar to getting a mortgage to pay for what your down payment doesn't cover on a house. Any time there's a large component of leverage, there's going to be the potential for amplified losses if things go the wrong way.

It's important for beginners to learn as much as possible before getting started. If you're thinking of starting to trade futures, it could be a smart idea to choose a broker with tons of educational resources. Also look for a "play money" platform so you can try futures trading without risking your actual money until you're 100% sure you're ready.

At The Motley Fool Ascent, brokerages are rated on a scale of one to five stars. We primarily focus on fees, available assets, and user experience; however, we also take into account features like research, education, tax-loss harvesting, and customer service. Our highest-rated brokerages generally include low fees, a diverse range of assets and account types, and useful platform features.

See our full methodology here: Ratings Methodology