Public vs tastytrade

What each platform is

Public and tastytrade are both modern brokerages, but they are optimized for different behavior.

Public is designed around multi-asset portfolio building. Its canonical record describes stocks, options, individual bonds, a Bond Account, a Treasury Account, direct crypto, a high-yield cash account, AI-assisted research and alternative investments.

tastytrade is designed around active derivatives. Its canonical record describes options, futures and futures options, micro contracts, event contracts, direct crypto through Zero Hash, probability analysis and options backtesting.

The right account depends less on experience level than on what the reader actually intends to do.

Both support options, with different structures

Public charges $0 commission and $0 per contract on stock and ETF options and pays an order-flow rebate of $0.06 to $0.18 per contract, with index options at $0.50 per contract, or $0.35 with Premium, and no rebate on index contracts.

tastytrade charges $1.00 per contract to open, capped at $10 per leg, and $0 to close, plus a $0.10 per contract clearing fee, with exercise or assignment at $5. That structure should not be flattened into a single per-contract number, because the closing leg is free and the opening cap limits large orders.

A trader opening frequent large multi-leg positions and a reader buying an occasional single contract will read those two schedules differently.

tastytrade is substantially more derivatives centered

Its interface is organized around probability of profit, defined risk, multi-leg structure, position adjustment and options backtesting, and it extends the same logic into futures and event contracts.

Public provides genuine options access, including spreads, straddles, strangles, condors, butterflies and VIX options with a strategy builder and profit and loss tools, but the surrounding app is an investing app rather than a derivatives console.

Futures are a clear product difference

tastytrade documents listed futures at $1.00 per contract per side, micro futures at $0.75, futures options at $1.25 and micro futures options at $0.75, with a $0.30 per contract clearing fee and exchange and NFA fees additional, across equity index, interest rate, commodity, currency, volatility and crypto futures. Its record also notes futures accounts are not SIPC protected.

Public does not establish futures. For a reader who needs them, that ends the question.

Event contracts are also tastytrade-specific here

tastytrade documents prediction and event contracts at $0 commission with a $0.01 per contract clearing fee and a $0.01 per contract regulatory and exchange fee. Public records prediction markets as not offered.

Direct crypto is live at both, on different terms

Both records involve Zero Hash, but the economics differ. Public uses flat order-size tiers from $0.49 up to $6.29, then 1.25% above $500, with API tiers from 0.60% to 0.10% and a supported crypto IRA at a 0.05% monthly custody fee. tastytrade charges 0.75% of total purchase on opening and closing transactions for Bitcoin and Ether and 1.00% for other assets, with a $1 minimum order and 20 or more assets.

A shared provider does not imply shared pricing, asset lists, transfer rules or account treatment. In both records the crypto is not SIPC or FDIC protected, and neither supports staking.

Public has the broader fixed-income proposition

Public documents individual corporate, municipal and Treasury bonds, fractional bonds, a Bond Account holding 10 bonds from a $1,000 minimum at $3.99 monthly or $0 with Premium, and a Treasury Account advised by Public Advisors LLC with marginal fees from 0.29% down to 0.09%.

tastytrade supports bonds and Treasury securities, with Treasury bills at $0 and Treasury notes and bonds at $25 to open or close, but establishes no packaged bond portfolio product.

Cash management is a Public emphasis

Public documents a High-Yield Cash Account at a variable 3.30% APY as of 2026-08, swept to partner banks for FDIC pass-through insurance with headline coverage of $5 million subject to program rules. tastytrade establishes no cash-yield program, so no yield comparison is drawn between them.

Research philosophies diverge

Public makes AI-assisted research explicit through Alpha and Agents, alongside analyst insights, institutional research and a bond screener, while stating that Agents do not provide investment advice.

tastytrade concentrates on trade-decision tooling: probability analysis, options backtesting, risk analysis and journaling. Backtested or simulated results describe the past and do not predict live outcomes.

Advisory and alternative products

Public Advisors LLC advises Generated Assets at 0.49% and Direct Indexing at 0.19%, and Public offers royalties and Reg A securities through Dalmore Group with offering-specific fees, limited liquidity and a 2.5% secondary-market fee each side. Public states it has no conventional robo-advisor, so these products should be described as what they are rather than as automated advice.

tastytrade establishes no robo-advisor and no managed portfolios. That is not a deficiency in a derivatives platform; it is a different product scope.

Practical distinction

Public may fit better for bonds, Treasuries, cash, AI-assisted research, Direct Indexing, Generated Assets, royalties and diversified multi-asset investing.

tastytrade may fit better for options-first trading, spreads, futures, probability-based analysis, active position management and event contracts.

Both records were fact-checked 2026-09-02, and pricing should be confirmed against each platform before funding an account.