The Best Broker for Selling Covered Calls and Cash-Secured Puts (2026)
By Terrell K. Flautt — 20 years investing and swing trading, 5 years trading options
Published
Terrell is not a licensed financial advisor. Nickelpie publishes educational analysis, not investment advice.
Five brokers charge $0 per options contract: SoFi, Robinhood, Webull, Firstrade and Public. Schwab and Fidelity charge $0.65. But here is what the comparison sites earning commissions won't tell you: if you sell one or two contracts a month, contract fees cost you about $16 a year. They are not the deciding factor. Options approval level and whether you can trade in a cash account are.
Broker fees verified July 14, 2026 against NerdWallet and StockBrokers.com. Pricing changes — check before you open an account.
Let's be upfront about the conflict of interest
Nickelpie earns a commission if you open a SoFi account through our link. You should read everything below knowing that.
So here is the least convenient fact we could possibly tell you: SoFi is not the cheapest broker for selling options, and for most people the price difference is trivial anyway. Four other brokers match its $0 contract fee. Two of them — Webull and Robinhood — offer more than SoFi does, including index options and higher approval levels that SoFi simply doesn't have.
We tell you that because a broker recommendation you can't trust is worth nothing to you, and a reader who doesn't trust us is worth nothing to us.
The contract-fee math, done honestly
Every affiliate page in this niche leads with contract fees, because fees are easy to make dramatic. Let's actually do the arithmetic for a wheel trader.
Running the wheel means selling roughly one cash-secured put a month, and one covered call a month once you're assigned. Call it 24 contracts a year per position.
| Your position size | Contracts/year | Cost at $0.65 | Cost at $0 | You save |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 contract (~$500–$2,000 account) | 24 | $16 | $0 | $16/yr |
| 5 contracts (~$10,000 account) | 120 | $78 | $0 | $78/yr |
| 20 contracts (~$50,000+ account) | 480 | $312 | $0 | $312/yr |
The honest conclusion: if you're starting with under $10,000, contract fees are a rounding error next to a single bad assignment. Pick your broker on whether you can get approved and whether you can trade in a cash account. Once you're running twenty contracts, come back and re-read this table — then fees are real money.
What actually matters when you're starting the wheel
- Can you get options approval at all? You need Level 1 to sell cash-secured puts and covered calls. Every broker below grants it.
- Can you trade in a cash account? The wheel is fully collateralized — it doesn't need margin. A cash account can't be caught by pattern-day-trader rules and can't go negative. For a beginner, that safety is worth more than any fee.
- Will you actually use it? The best broker is the one whose app you'll open. A powerful platform you find intimidating is worse than a simple one you understand.
- Then, and only then, fees.
The comparison
| Broker | Per contract | Index options (SPX) | Futures | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SoFi Active Investingwe earn a commission | $0 | No | No | Beginners who want banking and investing in one app |
| Robinhood | $0 | Yes | Yes | Traders who want $0 fees plus index options and more approval levels |
| Webull | $0 | Yes | Yes | Active traders who want $0 fees with serious charting tools |
| tastytrade | $1.00 to open, $0 to close ($10/leg cap) | Yes | Yes | Serious, high-volume option sellers |
| Charles Schwab | $0.65 | Yes | Yes | People who want a full-service brokerage and will pay for it |
| Fidelity | $0.65 | Yes | No | Long-term investors who also want to sell a few calls |
Who should pick which
SoFi — if you're a beginner who wants one app for everything
SoFi's Options Level 1 is defined as covered calls and cash-secured puts — the two trades the wheel is made of, and nothing more. For someone learning, that constraint is a feature: you cannot accidentally buy a naked call with your rent money. Add $0 contract fees, banking and investing in one app, and fractional shares, and it's a genuinely sensible first brokerage.
Don't pick SoFi if you want SPX or index options, futures, advanced charting, or approval above Level 2. It doesn't have any of those, and it isn't close.
Webull — if you want $0 fees and real tools
Same $0 contract fee, but with serious charting, index options, and paper trading — which means you can practise the wheel with fake money before risking real money. If you're willing to climb a steeper learning curve, Webull gives you more.
tastytrade — if you're already a serious premium seller
Built by option sellers for option sellers. You pay $1.00 to open, but $0 to close, capped at $10 per leg — which makes large multi-contract positions cheaper than they look, and which is a fundamentally different pricing philosophy from everyone else. Wrong choice for a one-contract beginner. Right choice at scale.
Schwab or Fidelity — if you want a real brokerage behind you
You pay $0.65 a contract. In exchange you get thinkorswim (Schwab), the most powerful retail options platform in existence, plus research, phone support, and branches. If your account is large and you value service, $312 a year is not much to pay for it.
What we actually recommend
If you are opening your first brokerage account to learn the wheel with a small account: SoFi or Webull. Pick SoFi if you want simplicity and your banking in the same app. Pick Webull if you want paper trading and better charts, and you don't mind a steeper interface.
We earn a commission on one of those two and nothing on the other. We think both are good answers, and we'd rather tell you that than pretend there's only one.
Common questions
Which broker is cheapest for selling covered calls?
Five brokers charge $0 per options contract: SoFi, Robinhood, Webull, Firstrade and Public. Schwab and Fidelity charge $0.65. tastytrade charges $1.00 to open and $0 to close, capped at $10 per leg. But read the next question before you pick a broker on price alone.
Do options contract fees actually matter for the wheel strategy?
Less than most websites claim — and most of those websites earn a commission on the answer. Here is the actual arithmetic.
A beginner running the wheel sells roughly one put per month, and one call per month once assigned. That is about 24 contracts a year. At $0.65 per contract, that is about $16 a year. Two coffees.
Fees only start to bite at size:
- 1 contract at a time (~$500–$2,000 account): ~$16/year at $0.65 — negligible.
- 5 contracts at a time (~$10,000 account): ~$78/year — noticeable.
- 20 contracts at a time (~$50,000+): ~$312/year — now it matters.
So if you are starting out, do not choose a broker based on contract fees. Choose based on whether you can get approved to sell options at all, and whether the broker lets you do it in a cash account. Those two things decide whether you can run the wheel. A $16 annual fee does not.
What options approval level do I need to sell covered calls and cash-secured puts?
Level 1 at most brokers. Covered calls and cash-secured puts are the two lowest-risk option strategies, because both are fully collateralized: you either own the 100 shares, or you hold the full cash to buy them. That is why brokers grant them first. SoFi's Options Level 1, for example, is defined as exactly these two trades. You do not need margin to run the wheel, and while you are learning, you should not use it.
Can I sell cash-secured puts in a cash account?
Yes, at most brokers. A cash-secured put is collateralized by cash you already hold — a $10 strike means $1,000 set aside — so it needs no margin. This matters more than fees: a cash account cannot be hit by pattern-day-trader restrictions and cannot go negative. For someone learning the wheel, that is usually the safer place to be.
Does SoFi allow cash-secured puts and covered calls?
Yes. SoFi's Options Level 1 covers exactly covered calls and cash-secured puts, at $0 per contract. Worth knowing what it does not do: SoFi offers no futures and no index options (so no SPX). If you want those, look at Webull, Robinhood or tastytrade instead.
Next steps
- How selling a cash-secured put actually works — with the real math
- How selling a covered call works — and the trade-off nobody mentions
- How much money do you actually need to start the wheel?