Firstrade
retail-trading · USFirstrade occupies a distinctive niche in the retail brokerage market as one of the only platforms offering completely free options trading with zero per-contract fees. While Robinhood also offers $0 options contract fees, Firstrade extends this to a full-featured brokerage with mutual fund access and strong multilingual support. The platform serves a significant Chinese-American and Asian-American investor community with full Chinese language support, alongside Spanish and Vietnamese. Firstrade was founded in 1985 as a Chinese-American brokerage and has deep roots in serving immigrant investor communities who are underserved by English-only financial platforms. The platform offers stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, fixed income, and OTC securities — a broader range than most commission-free competitors. Firstrade's mobile app and web platform are functional though less visually polished than newer competitors. All investing involves risk including possible loss of principal.
What does Firstrade cost and who is it best for?
Firstrade is a self-directed trading platform All asset types are commission-free. A free tier is available with no account minimum. Commission-free brokerage with no options contract fees — one of the few platforms offering completely free options trading — with strong multilingual support including Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
⚠ Trading Disclaimer
The platforms listed on this page are self-directed trading tools. Finatune does not provide investment advice, is not a licensed broker-dealer, and is not affiliated with any platform listed. Trading stocks, ETFs, options, and crypto involves significant risk of loss. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal. Always review a platform's full fee schedule, terms of service, and regulatory disclosures before opening an account.
Pricing
// verify pricing before launch — prices shown may not reflect current vendor rates
Key Features
- •Zero options contract fee — completely free options trading
- •Mutual fund trading with no transaction fee
- •Full Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese language support
- •Fixed income and bond trading
- •OTC securities access
- •IRA accounts including Traditional, Roth, and SEP
- •Paper trading for practice
- •Founded 1985 — established brokerage track record
Pros
- +Only platform besides Robinhood offering zero options contract fees with full brokerage capabilities
- +Mutual fund access with no transaction fee — broader than most commission-free competitors
- +Best multilingual support in retail brokerage — Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese
- +Long track record since 1985 — established regulatory standing
- +IRA accounts across all types available
- +Fixed income and bond trading accessible to retail investors
Cons
- −US only — despite multilingual support the brokerage is US-regulated only
- −Interface less polished than Robinhood, Webull, or moomoo
- −Research tools less sophisticated than Webull or tastytrade
- −Smaller brand recognition outside Asian-American investor community
- −Customer support response times can be slow
- −All investing involves risk including possible loss of principal
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Reviewed by Finatune · Last updated 2026-07-01