Wikilix
Contract reading

What tastytrade legally published, but does not want you to read

Every clause below is published by tastytrade itself, on its own website, today. The finding is not that the text exists. It is the distance between what a client is shown and what a client agreed to. Read from its own documents on .

Contracting entity: tastytrade, Inc.

sole discretiondeemed acceptancehidden feewithdrawalsdispute barrierforum waiverliability capconflict of interestforced liquidationmargin call

tastytrade is a real US broker with SIPC cover and a thorough set of risk disclosures. The contract that governs your account is not on its disclosures page at all, and neither are five other agreements that override the ones you can read. Clause 22(v) says nobody owes you a margin call, notice of a shortfall, or time to fix it before your positions are sold. Clause 25 can make you pay the firm's legal costs over a claim about losses you suffered yourself.

Back to tastytrade

Contract risk

Harder than average
5.5/10

Where this contract sitsHow far this contract goes, overall. Under 2 is nothing beyond the ordinary; 6 to 9 means several clauses put money you have already earned at risk; 9 and above reads as designed to make payout refusable.

0510
CriticalClauses that can cost you money you have already earned or deposited, or that remove your ability to challenge it.
3
FlaggedEvery clause worth knowing about, at all three severities. Ordinary terms that every broker has are not counted.
25
DocumentsHow many of the broker's own legal files this reading is based on. Each one was downloaded and hashed on the date shown.
28
ContradictionsPlaces where a promise the broker makes in public is not kept by the clause that governs it.
2

How the 25 break downThe same flagged clauses, split by how much each one can cost you. Severity is our reading of the clause, not the broker's label.

Critical3
Warning18
Notice4

section 94 of 113is where the deepest clause sits, 83% of the way into the document it is in

The numbers in this contractFigures taken from this broker's own clauses, so the labels differ from broker to broker. The four in the panel above are the same on every report.

$2000Bonus requirement. Jump to the clause this comes from.Sweet Bonus locks your own deposit for a year30 daysTime to complain. Jump to the clause this comes from.Texting the firm waives your class action rights$75Fee you were not shown. Jump to the clause this comes from.Closing a retirement account costs $135 to leave$10Fee on an unused account. Jump to the clause this comes from.Ten dollars a month for a stuck security

What the documents say

25 clauses worth knowing about, worst first, each quoted from tastytrade's own files

01

tastytrade and Apex do not have to tell you that your margin account has fallen short of the requirement. They do not have to give you time to top it up. Clause 22(v) lets them sell your positions first and inform you after.

Why this matters

Your shares can be sold at the worst moment of a bad morning, at a price you did not choose and cannot appeal. You still owe any shortfall left after the sale.

Exhibit 1CriticalHarder than usual

You acknowledge that neither tastytrade nor the Clearing Firm are obligated to request additional securities or other property for margin purposes in the event your margin Account falls below minimum margin requirements, notify you of any such deficiency, or allow you time to deposit additional securities or other property.
Clause 22(v) in tastytrade Customer Agreement and Acknowledgments, p.8
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference
Set against a regulated standard: ASIC (Australia)

Margin lenders licensed by ASIC must agree with the client how a margin call will be communicated, and then communicate it. tastytrade Australia's own disclosure statement promises calls at least one hour before the market opens. The US agreement says tastytrade owes you no notice at all.

tastytrade is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 17In a retirement account the same clause bites hardest, because tax law can stop you paying in to meet the call.
02

Lose money in your account and raise a claim, and clause 25 can make you pay tastytrade's cost of defending it. Your own loss is written in as one of the triggers.

Why this matters

A claim against tastytrade can cost you more than it recovers, because you promised to cover the firm's lawyers. The agreement does carve out tastytrade's own gross negligence and deliberate wrongdoing, at the end of the list.

Exhibit 3CriticalRarely seen

You hereby, in both personal and representative capacities, agree to hold harmless, defend, and indemnify tastytrade and its officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, and Third-Party Providers and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, and representatives from any and all liabilities, losses, costs, judgments, penalties, claims, actions, damages, expenses, and attorney’s fees and disbursements (collectively, “Losses”) resulting or arising directly or indirectly from your use of your Account and services provided by tastytrade and/or the Clearing Firm, including, but
Clause 25 in tastytrade Customer Agreement and Acknowledgments, p.9
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference
  • Worse together with Exhibit 7One clause caps what you can recover and the other charges you for trying to recover it.
03

tastytrade's disclosures page publishes twenty risk documents and not one of the contracts. The Customer Agreement, two Apex agreements and the securities lending agreement are all named inside those documents but linked nowhere on it.

Why this matters

Each of these overrides what you can read. The securities lending disclosure says the unpublished agreement wins in a conflict. The privacy policy says a different notice replaces it once you hold an account.

Exhibit 2WarningHarder than usual

You agree to be bound by the terms of Apex’s (Clearing Firm’s) Customer Margin and Short Account Agreement in addition to the terms contained herein.
Clause 22(i) in tastytrade Customer Agreement and Acknowledgments, p.8
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference
  • Worse together with Exhibit 15Terms you cannot read are also terms you accept by carrying on using the account.
04

Taking the Sweet Bonus requires your deposit to stay in the account for twelve months, not just the bonus. Touch your own money early and tastytrade debits the bonus straight back out.

Why this matters

The $2,000 top tier needs $100,000 left untouched for a year. The bonus also sits outside your withdrawable cash for the full twelve months.

Exhibit 4WarningStandard wording$2000

The Qualified Initial Deposit and any subsequent deposits made within the Funding Window that count toward the Qualified Customer's Final Funding Amount, together with the Cash Bonus credited under this Promotion, are required to remain in the Qualified Account for a minimum of twelve (12) months starting on the date of the Qualified Initial Deposit (the “Twelve-Month Period”).
Quoted in Sweet Bonus Promotion Terms & Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Our own capture of tastytrade.com, taken on Oct 14, 2026Sweet Bonus locks your own deposit for a yearVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file

What happens, and when

The stages this clause runs through, taken from the broker's own document
TriggerWhat the broker may then doClause
Day 1Your first deposit starts both the 30 day funding window and the twelve month lock.
Day 30The funding window closes and your tier is set. Anything you withdrew inside it is subtracted first.
Within two weeks aftertastytrade credits the cash bonus as a lump sum, with no trading required.
Twelve monthsThe bonus becomes withdrawable. Withdraw your own deposit before this point and the bonus is debited back out.
05

Signing up for tastytrade text messages before you open an account binds you to private arbitration and gives up jury trials and class actions. You get 30 days to opt out, counted from the day you first visited the site.

Why this matters

The clock can expire before you ever read the SMS terms, and tastytrade then treats you as permanently ineligible to opt out. Once your account opens the fuller FINRA rules apply, so your weakest position is the one you hold while being marketed to.

Exhibit 5WarningHarder than usual30 days

To opt out of this Arbitration Agreement, you must send us a written opt-out notice (“Opt-Out Notice”) by email at compliance@tastytrade.com within 30 days after the earlier of: (1) the date you first accessed the site; or (2) the date you first provided information to the site after the Effective Date of these Terms (“Opt-Out Period”).
Quoted in tastytrade SMS terms and conditions, p.5
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference

Where it sits: section 15 of 30 in the tastytrade SMS terms and conditions, 50% of the way through.

06

The pricing page promises transparent pricing with no games. tastytrade's own client relationship summary says the exchange, regulatory and clearing fees it charges you can exceed what it actually paid.

Why this matters

A fee described as a pass-through becomes a margin when the firm keeps the difference. tastytrade says it may keep volume discounts instead of passing them to you, and the pricing page never says so.

Exhibit 6WarningHarder than usual

Exchange, Regulatory, and Clearing Fees charged to you could be greater than the net cost paid by tastytrade for the corresponding fee (we may receive aggregate volume discounts that are not passed on to you).
Quoted in Customer Relationship Summary, p.1
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference
Our own capture of tastytrade.com, taken on Oct 14, 2026The claim, on Pricing page, under the heading CLEAR PRICING, NO BULLVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file
  • Worse together with Exhibit 8The page headlined as transparent also leaves out what it costs you to leave.

The route to a complaint narrows before you have an account

Clause 25 of the tastytrade Customer Agreement can make you pay the firm's legal costs over a claim about losses you suffered yourself. The SMS terms bind anyone who signs up for texts to private arbitration with a class action waiver, and give 30 days to escape it counted from your first visit to the site. Five agreements that override the published documents, including two Apex agreements and the securities lending agreement, are not on the disclosures page at all.

Challenging the firm3 clauses flagged

tastytrade can correct an execution it already reported to you if the market data behind it was wrong. You are responsible for the corrected price. Clause 18 caps what you can recover at the amount you paid for the market data.

Why this matters

tastytrade's published fee schedule carries no market data charge for an ordinary account. A ceiling set at a fee you never paid is not a ceiling at all.

Exhibit 7CriticalHarder than usual

To the extent a tribunal from of component jurisdiction determines that tastytrade should be held liable for any such losses, you agree that tastytrade’s liability will not exceed the amount you paid for the receipt of the market data.
Clause 18 in tastytrade Customer Agreement and Acknowledgments, p.6
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference
  • Worse together with Exhibit 3The cap limits the recovery and the indemnity charges you for pursuing it.

tastytrade can tape your calls with no notice and no warning tone, then use the recording as evidence against you. You may not record the same call without its written consent.

Why this matters

tastytrade takes on no duty to keep the tapes, so the call that would help you may not exist later. Nothing an employee says on it reduces the firm's rights under the agreement.

Exhibit 14WarningRarely seen

You understand that the Firm may, in its sole and absolute discretion, tape record conversations without further notice or disclosure, without the use of an automatic tone-warning device, and without assuming responsibility to make or retain such tape recordings.
Clause 17 in tastytrade Customer Agreement and Acknowledgments, p.6
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference
  • Worse together with Exhibit 3The firm controls the evidence of the call and you have promised to fund its defence.

Apex treats five days of silence from you as agreement that it is not responsible for the foreign brokers executing your orders. The clause sits inside a futures risk disclosure.

Why this matters

The five days run from when the disclosure reaches you, not from when you read it. Miss them and your recourse against a foreign broker may lie outside the United States.

Exhibit 23NoticeHarder than usual5 days

Unless you object within five (5) days by giving notice as provided in your customer agreement after receipt of this disclosure, Apex will assume your consent to the aforementioned conditions.
Quoted in Futures & Exchange-Traded Options Risk Disclosure, p.4
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

The pricing page is not the fee schedule

A $75 transfer out and a $60 retirement account closing fee sit in tastytrade's separate fee schedule, and neither appears on the pricing page. Margin interest runs at 11% a year below $25,000, compounds daily, and is divided by a 360 day year that lifts the effective rate. Apex sets the base rate at its own discretion and your rate follows it without notice.

Cost disclosure2 clauses flagged

Moving your account to another broker costs $75, and closing a retirement account costs another $60. tastytrade's fee schedule carries both figures, and the pricing page carries neither.

Why this matters

Leaving is the one cost you cannot avoid by trading less. You see it only if you open the separate fee schedule.

Exhibit 8WarningStandard wording$75

tastytrade reserves the right to modify any fees and pass-through any third party fees necessary to effectively manage your account without prior notice.
Quoted in Commissions & Fees, p.2
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

A margin balance under $25,000 costs 11% a year at tastytrade. Apex compounds the interest daily and divides the yearly rate by 360 days, not 365. Both lift what you actually pay.

Why this matters

Apex sets the base rate at its own discretion and your rate moves with it, with no notice to you. The schedule says so in one line.

Exhibit 9WarningStandard wording11%

Base Rate = 10% as of January 1st, 2025. Subject to change without notice
Quoted in Commissions & Fees, p.2
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

The contract never says when your money comes back

The word withdraw appears once in the twelve pages of tastytrade's Customer Agreement, and only in the joint accounts clause. No clause sets a deadline for paying you, limits a hold, or states a standard the firm must meet. The only disbursement clause in the agreement protects tastytrade and Apex when they act on an instruction.

Getting paid out1 clause flagged

The word withdraw appears once in tastytrade's twelve page Customer Agreement, and only about joint accounts. Nothing in it sets a deadline for returning your money or limits how long a hold can last.

Why this matters

If a payment stalls, the agreement gives you no promised timeframe to hold tastytrade to. Its only disbursement clause protects the firm when it acts on an instruction.

Exhibit 11WarningHarder than usual

Customer acknowledges that tastytrade and the Clearing Firm are under no duty to inquire as to the authority or propriety of any instructions given to them, and that they shall be entitled to rely upon any such instructions without inquiry or investigation, including, without limitation, instructions with respect to the disbursement of funds and the transfer of securities.
Clause 3 in tastytrade Customer Agreement and Acknowledgments, p.2
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

tastytrade can close a winning option before you do

Clause 21(x) lets tastytrade close an option about to expire in the money at its sole discretion and without notice to you. Clause 21(xii) extends that to cancelling orders and closing positions whenever the firm judges it necessary for its own protection. Clause 21(ix) adds that the firm is under no obligation to exercise or sell on your behalf, so the timing is the firm's and the result is yours.

Who decides your exit1 clause flagged

An option of yours that is about to expire in the money can be closed by tastytrade at its own discretion, without notice. A second clause lets it cancel your orders and close your positions whenever it judges that necessary to protect itself.

Why this matters

The firm, not you, picks the moment you leave a winning position, and that moment sets what you keep. It is also under no obligation to exercise or sell on your behalf.

Exhibit 13WarningHarder than usual

You acknowledge that if you own an option that is about to expire in the money, tastytrade may, in its sole discretion or in accordance with Applicable Rules and Regulations, and without prior notice to you, close out the option position.
Clause 21(x) in tastytrade Customer Agreement and Acknowledgments, p.8
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

tastytrade can act on your account before it tells you anything

Clause 22(v) of the tastytrade Customer Agreement removes any duty to issue a margin call, report a shortfall, or give you time to cover it. Other clauses let the firm close a winning option, cancel your orders, and delay or refuse a trade at its sole discretion, each without prior notice. In a retirement account the same clauses meet contribution limits set by tax law, so paying in to save the position may not be legal.

No notice owed5 clauses flagged

The futures agreement lets tastytrade delay, refuse or reject any order at its sole discretion and without telling you first. The trigger includes its own belief that your order may breach the firm's policies.

Why this matters

A refused or delayed order in a fast market is a position you did not get, at a price that has moved. tastytrade writes the policies that trigger the clause.

Exhibit 12WarningHarder than usual

You understand that if tastytrade believes that execution or attempted execution of any of your orders may breach any Applicable Rules and Regulations, including, but not limited to, NFA, CFTC, CME, or any other exchange rules or Firm policies, tastytrade may, in its sole discretion and without prior notice to you, delay, refuse, or reject to execute any purchase or sale order for your Customer Account at any time.
Clause 5 in Futures and Cleared Swaps Customer Agreement and Acknowledgements, p.3
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

tastytrade can amend the agreement by posting a new version on its website. Clause 35 then treats your continued use of the account as acceptance of agreements that do not exist yet.

Why this matters

You are told to check the website periodically for changes. tastytrade does promise to send material changes to you, which the futures agreement does not repeat.

Exhibit 15WarningHarder than usual

You agree that your continued use of the Account will constitute your acceptance of future Agreements and the terms contained therein.
Clause 35 in tastytrade Customer Agreement and Acknowledgments, p.12
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

In a joint account tastytrade may act on money and transfer instructions from any one holder, and that binds everyone. The firm takes on no duty to ask why or to check where the money goes.

In plain words

Jointly and severally liable means each person can be made to pay the whole amount alone. If the broker treats two accounts as linked, it can ask either holder for all of it, not half each.

Why this matters

Your co-holder can empty the account without your knowledge, and notices sent to them count as notice to you. Each of you is also liable for the whole of any debt on it.

Exhibit 16WarningStandard wording

tastytrade may rely on money, position, account transfer or other instructions from any one of the Customers in a joint Account, and such instructions shall be binding on each of the Customers.
Clause 19 in tastytrade Customer Agreement and Acknowledgments, p.6
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

A retirement account approved for margin can receive a margin call you can only meet by paying money in. Contribution limits set by tax law may stop you, and tastytrade then reserves the right to sell your positions.

Why this matters

You choose between a tax penalty and a forced sale inside your retirement savings. tastytrade sets out both outcomes in the same disclosure.

Exhibit 17WarningRarely seen

You must understand that in the event of an assignment of an option resulting in a short stock position that tastytrade reserves the right to liquidate this position.
Quoted in Margin Disclosure, p.5
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
  • Only applies after Exhibit 1The squeeze only arrives once the no notice margin clause has already been triggered.

tastytrade offers a setting that sends your order on a single mouse click, with no confirmation screen. Clause 7 says tastytrade bears no liability for an order entered by accident that way.

Why this matters

A misplaced click becomes a live position before you can cancel it, and the cost is entirely yours. The clause says under no circumstances, with no exception written in.

Exhibit 21WarningHarder than usual

All orders submitted using the 1-click trading feature will automatically be routed for execution without any platform prompts or messaging to review or confirm the order before it is sent to the market for execution.
Clause 7 in tastytrade Customer Agreement and Acknowledgments, p.3
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

tastytrade sells or shares your data and takes your biometrics

tastytrade's privacy policy lists nine categories of personal information it sells or shares for commercial purposes, including your transaction history and internet activity. It collects biometric information at account opening and profiles customers in ways it describes as producing legally significant effects. Once you hold an account, a U.S. Consumer Privacy Notice that tastytrade does not publish replaces the policy you read.

Your data1 clause flagged

tastytrade's privacy policy says it sells or shares your identifiers, demographics, transaction information and internet activity for commercial purposes. It also collects biometric information when you open or change an account.

Why this matters

The firm profiles you in ways it describes as producing legally significant effects. Once you hold an account, a notice tastytrade does not publish replaces this policy.

Exhibit 20WarningHarder than usual

We collect, sell, or share the following categories of personal information for commercial purposes: contact identifiers, characteristics or demographics, commercial or transactions information, content, device identifiers, device information, internet activity, non-precise geolocation data, and inferences drawn from any of the above.
Clause 16 in Privacy Policy
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference

Buried at section 94 of 113 in the Privacy Policy, 83% of the way through.

tastytrade earns from the firms on the other side of your trade

tastytrade collected up to $0.71 per options contract and up to $0.0015 per share from the market makers filling its customers' orders in the second quarter of 2026, while charging $0 to close an options trade. On lent shares, tastytrade sets your cut of the fee at its sole discretion, and the floor is in an agreement it does not publish. Dividends on those shares reach you as substitute payments taxed at up to 37% rather than the 20% qualified rate, in a disclosure still quoting 2022 tax rates.

Who pays the broker2 clauses flagged

tastytrade is paid by the market makers that execute your trades. Its own reports put that at up to $0.0015 a share on stocks, and up to $0.71 per options contract in June 2026.

In plain words

Remuneration means payments it receives.

Why this matters

Closing an options trade costs you nothing in commission, and tastytrade can still collect up to $0.71 a contract for sending it on. You learn the amount on your own order only if you write and ask.

Exhibit 18WarningStandard wording$0.71

tastytrade, Inc. receives payment for executed listed equity orders routed to market makers. The payment is $0.0015 or less per share for all order types.
Quoted in Order Routing Disclosure Report Q2 2026 (PDF), p.1
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK), ESMA (EU)

The FCA treats payment for order flow as incompatible with its best execution and inducement rules, so firms it licenses do not take it. United States rules require tastytrade to disclose these payments rather than refuse them.

tastytrade is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

Lend your shares through Apex and tastytrade decides your share of the fee at its sole discretion. The floor sits in the Master Securities Lending Agreement, which tastytrade does not publish.

Why this matters

Dividends on lent shares reach you as substitute payments taxed as ordinary income at up to 37%, not the 20% qualified dividend rate. Apex decides whether to recall your shares before a dividend and promises nothing.

Exhibit 19WarningStandard wording37%

The Percentage Rate may be changed by your Introducing Broker in its sole discretion, but will not be less than the Minimum Percentage Rate set out in the Schedule to the Master Securities Lending Agreement.
Quoted in Fully-Paid Securities Lending Program Risk Disclosure
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference
  • Worse together with Exhibit 2The rate floor and the overriding terms both sit in the agreement that is not published.

A holding you cannot move costs $10 every month

tastytrade's fee schedule charges $10 a month for each security in your account that cannot be transferred, with no cap stated. The Customer Agreement separately lets Apex restrict your transfer of a holding at its sole discretion. tastytrade charges no inactivity fee and no annual retirement account fee, so this is the only recurring charge for holding something.

Recurring charges1 clause flagged

tastytrade's fee schedule charges $10 a month for every security in your account that cannot be transferred. The charge repeats for as long as you hold it.

Why this matters

A holding you cannot move out still bills you every month. Nothing in the schedule caps the total.

Exhibit 10WarningHarder than usual$10

tastytrade reserves the right to modify any fees and pass-through any third party fees necessary to effectively manage your account without prior notice.
Quoted in Commissions & Fees, p.3
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Sixty countries, Illinois law, English only

tastytrade accepts clients from around sixty countries, most of them not English speaking, and contracts with all of them under the law of Illinois. Clause 26 makes you hold the firm harmless for any loss caused by a language barrier, and guarantees support and brokerage services in English only. A dispute goes to FINRA arbitration at a location FINRA's own dispute resolution office picks.

Where a dispute goes1 clause flagged

tastytrade takes clients from around sixty countries and contracts with all of them under Illinois law. Clause 26 makes you carry any loss caused by a language barrier.

Why this matters

Support and brokerage services are guaranteed in English only, and the contract exists in English only. A dispute goes to FINRA arbitration at a place FINRA chooses.

Exhibit 22NoticeHarder than usual

You acknowledge and agree to hold tastytrade harmless from any losses or damages due to language barriers. You acknowledge that tastytrade only guarantees customer and account support as well as its brokerage services in English.
Clause 26 in tastytrade Customer Agreement and Acknowledgments, p.9
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

tastytrade introduces the account and Apex carries it

tastytrade, Inc. is a FINRA, NFA and SIPC member in Chicago, and Apex Clearing Corporation holds the cash and securities. Apex states in its brochure that it gives no advice, will not review your account, and bears no responsibility for anything tastytrade does. Securities carry SIPC cover to $500,000, while futures cash is pooled with other customers' money, carries no insurance, and can be exposed to their losses.

Who holds the money2 clauses flagged

Money you deposit for futures is not held in a separate account for you. The clearing firm pools it with other customers' funds, and you can be exposed to their trading losses.

Why this matters

No insurance covers futures cash if the clearing firm fails. The firm may also keep the interest it earns on your money.

Exhibit 24NoticeStandard wording

The funds you deposit with a futures commission merchant are not held by the futures commission merchant in a separate account for your individual benefit.
Quoted in CFTC Rule 1.55 Risk Disclosure Statement, p.3
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Set against a regulated standard: CFTC / NFA (US)

The CFTC requires a futures commission merchant to tell customers this in these words. Securities in your tastytrade account do carry SIPC cover up to $500,000, and futures cash carries none.

tastytrade is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

You contract with tastytrade, Inc., but Apex Clearing Corporation holds your money and securities. Apex states it gives you no advice, does not review your account, and is not responsible for tastytrade.

Why this matters

Two firms stand between you and your money, and each one points at the other. Apex can also reject or close your account for any reason.

Exhibit 25NoticeStandard wording

We have no responsibility or liability for any acts or omissions of your broker or its representatives, employees or other agents.
Quoted in Apex Customer Information Brochure, p.1
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where the marketing and the contract disagree

A promise made in public, set against the clause that governs it

01

The page calls the pricing transparent while the firm's own client summary says the fees it passes on may exceed what it paid.

Said in public, in English

No games. No subscriptions. Just transparent pricing, no matter what you trade.

Pricing page, under the heading CLEAR PRICING, NO BULL

We took a picture of this page. It is shown once, with the finding it belongs to. See our capture of tastytrade.com

In the contract

Exchange, Regulatory, and Clearing Fees charged to you could be greater than the net cost paid by tastytrade for the corresponding fee (we may receive aggregate volume discounts that are not passed on to you).

02

Australian clients are promised a margin call an hour before the open, while the agreement they sign says no notice is owed at all.

Said in public, in English

Margin calls are issued at least one hour before the market opens.

tastytrade Australia margin loan product disclosure statement, section 4, What is a Margin Call?

In the contract · clause 22(v)

You acknowledge that neither tastytrade nor the Clearing Firm are obligated to request additional securities or other property for margin purposes in the event your margin Account falls below minimum margin requirements, notify you of any such deficiency, or allow you time to deposit additional securities or other property.

The documents this reading is based on

28 files, all published by tastytrade. Each shows when we read it and a fingerprint of its wording.

WIKILIX keeps the copy of each file it read, and does not republish it: what is published is the fingerprint of its wording. Download the file yourself and hash its text, lowercased with runs of whitespace collapsed, and a matching fingerprint means the wording quoted above is still the wording tastytrade publishes.

How this reading was done

Every clause above was read out of a document tastytrade publishes itself

This reading was published on .

Documents
15 of 28downloaded from the broker's site, and 15 read in full
Pages opened
66pages walked to find those documents, footer links included
Older copies
2earlier versions downloaded, 1 identical to the copy we hold by fingerprint
Marketing pages
11public pages set against what the contract says
Position measured
2clauses whose position was counted: which numbered section of the document holds them, out of how many

Who the contract is with

tastytrade, Inc.

You contract with tastytrade, Inc., a Delaware corporation in Chicago, Illinois, formerly called tastyworks, Inc. It is an introducing broker and a member of FINRA, NFA and SIPC. It does not hold your money. Apex Clearing Corporation carries the account, holds the cash and securities, and lends against them on margin. Apex states it gives no advice, does not review your account, and is not responsible for anything tastytrade does. Australian clients take their margin loan from tastytrade Australia Pty Ltd, AFSL 508867, while the assets still sit with Apex in the United States.

Quotations are copied verbatim from the documents named above, with the clause number and the page each one came from. Where a clause is quoted in another language, the original is shown first and the English is a translation.

The plain-language parts, what a clause means for a client, how ordinary it is, and how it reads against a regulated standard, are WIKILIX's analysis and are labelled as such on every card. This is a reading of public documents, not legal advice and not an allegation of wrongdoing.

In fairness, and what we could not check

A reader who knows the edges of the work can trust the middle of it

tastytrade charges no inactivity fee, no annual IRA maintenance fee, and nothing for ACH deposits or withdrawals. Its account level arbitration clause keeps your right to stay in a class action, which the pre-account SMS terms give away. Securities carry SIPC cover to $500,000 with excess coverage arranged above it. The Sweet Bonus asks for no trading and no turnover, and trading losses do not breach its holding period. The firm also puts its payment for order flow, and the fact that it may keep volume discounts on pass-through fees, in writing. Most brokers do not.

The Customer Agreement is not linked from tastytrade's disclosures page. It sits at its own address, and the review covers all twelve pages. Five further agreements sit at their own addresses and are not covered: the Portfolio Margin Agreement, the Cryptocurrency Platform Agreement, the Futures IRA Agreement, the Autotrade authorization, and the Apex margin and option agreements the contract binds you to. The Futures Customer Agreement is covered only in part. Five published PDFs store their text in a scrambled form. Four of those are quoted from the screen, and only where legible. The Portfolio Margin Risk Disclosure Statement is not covered. The options booklet runs to 96 pages, and about a third is covered. Parts of the margin disclosure's retirement account section are hard to read in the published file, so only its clear sentences are quoted. The Apex brochure's text stops mid sentence. The client portal's forms page needs a login, so it is not covered. One earlier copy of one document is available; no earlier copies of the rest exist.

How to check any of this yourself

Every quote above links to the tastytrade file it came from. This is what to do with it.

Open the three stepsFind the words in the source, work out the fingerprint, and read what a difference does and does not prove.

Open the source and search for the words

Every quote has a link under it. Open the file, or the web page, and search it for the words we quote. The clause number next to the quote tells you where to look.

If the words are not there any more, the source may have changed after we read it. That is worth knowing too. We keep the date we read it, and a code worked out from its wording, so the quote stays checkable.

What a fingerprint is

A fingerprint is a code worked out from what a source says. Change one word and the code changes completely. We keep two codes for every file we read, and the panel on each source shows both.

The first is the code of the exact file we downloaded. The second is the code of its wording alone, with capital letters lowered and runs of spaces collapsed. When the same words are saved as a new file, the first code changes and the second one stays the same.

Only the first code can be worked out on your own computer. Save the file, then run one of these, putting the name of the file you saved where the example is. The panel on each source prints the command with that source's real file name already in it.

macOS or Linux:
  shasum -a 256 the-file-you-saved.pdf

Windows:
  certutil -hashfile the-file-you-saved.pdf SHA256

The two codes are different from each other, and they are not meant to match. Comparing one against the other proves nothing.

What a difference means, and what it does not

A different file code on its own proves nothing. A PDF saved again with a new date inside it is a new file saying exactly the same thing.

A different wording code means the words themselves changed. That is the one that matters, and it is why we keep it.

Even then, a change is not proof of bad faith. Companies update their documents. What this report says is what the document said on the day we read it, and every quote carries that date.

A source that is a web page and not a file has no file to save, so only the code of its wording is shown.

How this report is made

Every clause quoted above comes from a document tastytrade publishes on its own website, downloaded and hashed on the date shown, with the clause number and page recorded so any reader can check it. We do not allege anything the documents do not say, and we do not judge tastytrade on anything other than its own published terms and its own public marketing. Where a clause has a qualifier that softens it, the report says so. Last read Oct 14, 2026.

If you represent tastytrade and a clause has changed, been withdrawn, or is being read out of context, tell us and we will re-read the documents and update this page. Corrections from the broker are welcome and are published with the reading they change. Contact us.

This is a reading of a contract, not legal advice and not a ruling on tastytrade. Whether its licence is real and current is a separate check on the broker profile.

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