What is a per-contract fee?
In one line: A per-contract fee is the commission a broker charges for each options contract you buy or sell, usually a fixed amount per contract, sometimes on top of a base charge per order.
How it works
Most brokers price options trades per contract. One contract covers 100 shares. Sell five contracts, and you pay the fee five times.
Many US brokers charge under a dollar per contract. Some charge nothing, and some add a base charge per order. Small regulatory and clearing fees apply on most trades as well. These change, so check your broker's current pricing page.
You often pay twice: once to open and once to close. If the option expires worthless, you usually skip the second fee. If you roll, you pay on both legs.
An example (hypothetical)
Say your broker charges $0.65 per contract, a made-up number for the example (an illustration, not a trade idea). Here are four short puts, one contract each:
| Trade | Premium in | Paid to close | Fees | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sold at $1.00, expires | +$100 | $0 | −$0.65 | +$99.35 |
| Sold at $1.00, bought back at $0.20 | +$100 | −$20 | −$1.30 | +$78.70 |
| Sold at $0.10, bought back at $0.05 | +$10 | −$5 | −$1.30 | +$3.70 |
| Sold at $0.10, bought back at $0.25 | +$10 | −$25 | −$1.30 | −$16.30 |
On the $1.00 put, fees barely show. On the $0.10 put, they eat a big slice of a small win and add to a loss.
Fees don't change the risk of the trade either. The $0.10 put still carries the full risk of buying 100 shares at the strike. A math example, not a promise.
Why it matters for sellers
Fees matter most on tiny premiums: far-out strikes, very short expiries and cheap stocks. If a premium is only a few times the fee, the trade has little room. An Assignment fee, if your broker charges one, adds to it.
In the wheel strategy, count fees per turn: the open, maybe a close or a roll, maybe an assignment. Each roll is two contracts. Track them in your journal so you see the real total.
The bid-ask spread often costs more than the fee. Our guide on how to read an options chain shows where the bid and ask sit.
Questions
Do I pay the fee if my option expires worthless?
Usually not a second time. You paid it to open. Check your broker; most don't charge on a worthless expiry.
Is a zero-commission broker free?
Not quite. Regulatory fees still apply, and the price you get inside the bid-ask spread usually matters more than the fee.
Is the fee per order or per contract?
Usually per contract, sometimes with a base charge per order. Five contracts in one order usually cost five fees.
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