CenterPoint Securitiesvs.Interactive Brokers

Head-to-head comparison across ratings, fees, asset coverage, and platform breadth.

CenterPoint Securities

4.1 / 5

Best-in-class short-locate inventory for active day traders and short sellers. Now a Clear Street division with ~8,000 ETB names, an in-house HTB desk sourcing 100M+ shares/month, 40+ DMA routes, and no PFOF. $30K minimum; not for beginners or buy-and-hold.

Last reviewed May 13, 2026Data may be outdated — verify rates before acting

Interactive Brokers

4.6 / 5

Best for active, global, and advanced traders. Lowest margin rates in the industry, broadest international access (160+ exchanges, 36 countries), and the most complete API stack in retail brokerage.

Last reviewed May 13, 2026Data may be outdated — verify rates before acting

Sub-rating overlap

Each broker scored 0–5 across the same 8 dimensions.

Detailed comparison

Green cells mark the winner on each metric. Tie rows are uncoloured.

Metric	CenterPoint	Interactive	Winner
OverallEditorial score	4.10 / 5	4.60 / 5	Interactive
Sub-ratingsCommissions & fees	4.00	4.80	Interactive
Sub-ratingsPlatforms & tools	4.50	5.00	Interactive
Sub-ratingsMobile app	2.00	4.00	Interactive
Sub-ratingsResearch	3.00	4.20	Interactive
Sub-ratingsEducation	2.50	4.00	Interactive
Sub-ratingsCustomer service	4.30	3.80	CenterPoint
Sub-ratingsRange of investments	2.50	5.00	Interactive
Sub-ratingsActive trading	5.00	5.00	Tie
PricingLowest margin rate	8.00%	5.83%	Interactive
PricingDefault cash sweep yield	—	4.33%	Interactive
PricingPFOF on equities	Does not accept	Does not accept	Tie

Where they differ on asset coverage

Asset class	CenterPoint	Interactive
OTC / Pink Sheets	Yes
Fractional shares	No	Yes
Listed options (single + multi-leg)	Yes
Mutual funds	No	Yes
US Treasuries / bonds	No
Forex	No	Yes
Futures	No
Crypto (direct)	No	Yes
International stocks	Limited	Yes
IRAs (limited)	Limited
24-hour overnight equity trading	No	Yes
Hard-to-borrow short locates	Yes
OTC / penny stocks		Yes
Options (US + global)		Yes
US Treasuries		Yes
Corporate / muni bonds, CDs		Yes
Futures / futures options		Yes
IPOs		Yes
Prediction markets		Yes

CenterPoint strengths

Best-in-class short-locate inventory: ~8,000 ETB names + in-house securities-lending desk sourcing 100M+ HTB shares/month from 45+ counterparties
Equity-tier locate discounts: 15% ($50K), 20% ($100K), 25% ($250K), 30% ($1M+); $15/day in free locates included
No PFOF; transparent route table with rebates up to +$0.0020/share on lit exchanges
40+ routing destinations: direct exchanges, market-maker wheels, dark pools, midpoint, algos (TWAP/VWAP suite), short-sale specialized (SAGEAE), OTC-specific (OTCP, OTCX)
DAS Trader Pro engine (CenterPoint Pro) with multi-monitor, Level 2 mosaic, fully programmable hotkeys, 60+ technical studies
CenterPoint Edge perks bundle: Trade Ideas, Benzinga Pro, TrendSpider, Dilution Tracker, TraderSync (~$6,000/yr value)

Interactive strengths

Lowest margin rates in retail brokerage — IBKR Pro USD blended 5.83–6.83%
Broadest international access — 160+ exchanges across 36 countries, 28 currencies
Trader Workstation (TWS) with ~120 order types, algos, Risk Navigator
Deepest short-locate inventory; SYEP shares 50% of borrow fees with clients
Full retail API: TWS, FIX, REST/WebSocket — 7 languages
Futures and futures options on 35+ global exchanges

Full CenterPoint Securities review →Full Interactive Brokers review →